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LIBRARY OF- CONGRESS. I 



~9&y\ B^i - 1 

_ # 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.! 



MENTAL DISCIPLINE; 

OR, 

HINTS ON THE CULTIVATION 

OF 

INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL HABITS: 

ADDRESSED PARTICULARLY TO 

STUDENTS IN THEOLOGY 

AND 

Young ^reacfjer*, 

BY 

HENRY FORSTER BURDER, M.A. 



jlB^RD edition, considerably enlarged. 



TO WHICH IS APPENDED, 

AN ADDRESS ON PULPIT ELOQUENCE, 

BY THE REV. JUStjis EDWARDS, D. D. 

ALSO 

A COURSE OF STUDY 
IN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, 

BY THE REV. LEONARD WOODS, D. D. 



NEW YORK: 

PUBLISHED BY JONATHAN LEAVITT, 

BOSTON: 

CROCKER AND BREWSTER. 




Tfi 



-*%* 



Southern District of New York, ss 
" BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-eighth day of 
July, A. D. 1830 in the fifty fifth year of the Independence of the 
United States of America, Jonathan Leavitt of the said District hath 
deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right w hereof he claims 
as Proprietor, in the words following to wit : 

Mental Discipline, or hints on the cultivation of Intellectual and 
moral habits, addressed particularly to students in Theology and 
young preachers, by Henry Forster Burder, M.A. Third Edition, con- 
siderably enlarged, to which is appended, an Address on Pulpit Elo- 
quence. By the Rev. Justin Edward's, D. D. Also a course of Study 
in Christian Theology by the Rev. Leonard Wood's D. D. 

In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States 
entitled, " An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the 
copies of Maps Charts, and Books to the authors and proprietors of such 
copies, during the times therein mentioned;" and also to an Act, entitled, 
"an Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, an Act for the encourage- 
ment of Learning by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, 
to the authors and proprietors of «uch copies during the time therein 
mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, 
engraving, and etching historical and other prints." 

FREDERICK I. BETTS. 
Clerk of the Southern District of New- York, 



NEW YORK : 

PRINTED BY WILLIAM A. MERCEIN, 240, PEARL -STREET, 
CORNER OF BURLING-SLIP. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 
INTRODUCTION >-,,-- 13 

MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 

I. — On Intellectual Habits, 

Part I. 

Hints with a view to aid the cultivation of those Intellectual 
Habits tohich will best facilitate the Acquisition of Know- 
ledge. 

1. Endeavour to form a correct Estimate of your own Powers. 19 

% Attach Importance to the various branches of Study prescrib- 
ed, not only as they may appear directly to bear upon the 
Pursuits of future life, but also as they tend to promote the 

Discipline and Improvement of the Mind. 21 

w 

3. Apply the mind with full Vigour and undivided Attention to 

every intellectual Pursuit in which you engage. 24 

4. Uniformly endeavour to attain clear and precise Ideas on every 

subject of investigation ; and never allow indistinctness and 
confusion of thought to remain in the mind, without a de- 
termined effort to arrive at discriminating and accurate concep- 
tions. - - 27 

5. Endeavour carefully to discriminate between sound and false 

Reasoning ; that you may readily detect and never employ. 
Arguments wanting in solidity. 29 



iV CONTENTS. 

6. Endeavour to acquire the Habit of strict and dilligent Investiga- 

tion. - 30 

7. Avail yourselves of the assistance of others whether tutors, asso- 

ciates or authors, only so far as to obtain the aid actually re- < 
quisite, and not to supersede the utmost efforts of your own 
minds. - 3*2 

8. Be not only willing, but desirous to have every Defect in your 

powers, attainments, and productions, fully and explicitly 
pointed out. ---33 

9. Let your plan of Study, and the arrangement for the distribu- 

tion of your Time, be judiciously formed, and prosecuted with 
the utmost diligence and punctuality 35 

10. Guard against those Mental Habits which may be eventually 

though imperceptibly prejudicial, by impairing the vigour of 
the Mind or of the Body. ------- 37 

11. Let it be your constant aim to arrive at general Principles, 

on all subjects to which your attention is directed. - - 40 

18. Be not satisfied with the Knowledge you have acquired on any 
subject of Investigation, till you can express the result of your 
Inquiies and Reflections in your own words, either in Conver- 
sation or in Writing. - 42 



Part II. 



Hints to aid the cultivation of Mental Habits^ with a view to the 
Communication of Knowledge in the engagements of the 
Christian Ministry. 

I. 

THE IMPORTANCE OP STILL PURSUING WITH DILIGENCE PLANS OF 
MENTAL IMPROVEMENT, AFTER TERMINATING THE COURSE OF 
ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE. 

1. The absurdity of imagining that on quitting a College, studious 
application may be discontinued. ----- 46 



CONTENTS, V 

2. The incentives to diligence arising out of the importance 

of the object at which the Christian Ministry aims. - - 47 

3 . The incentives arising out of the difficulties to be encountered, 49 
(1.) Difficulties arising out of diversities of mental character in the 

auditories. .„ ibid 

(2.) Difficulties arising out of the demands made on the 
Mental Resources of Ministers. - 50 

(3.) Difficulties arising out of the increased circulation of Know- 
ledge. ._-----_,- 53 

4. The Contrast observable between different classes of Christian 

Ministers in point of mental progress. 51 

II. 

I m THE COURSE OF STUDS', WITH A VIEW TO MENTAL IMPROVEMENT, 
WHICH IT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO PURSUE IN THE EARLIER 
STAGES OF THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 55 

The study of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. - - - 56 

The course of reading which is most important to a Theological 
student. ._--*--- -57 

The importance of Devotional Reading. - * - - - 59 

On the most profitable method of reading. - - - 60 

Hit 

9S THE ?EST METHOD OF CONDUCTING DIRECT PREPARATION FOR 
THE PULPIT. 

I . Remember the influence of Devotional excitement on the oper a- 
tions of the intellect, when employed on spiritual subjects, and 
the importance of obtaining that Divine Aid which the Scrip- 
m res encourage ns to expect, ---£-- 63 



VI CONTENTS. 

% Study the meaning of the word of God, in your daily perusal of 
the sacred volume, and yield your mind and heart to the influ- 
ence of the truths you read. - - - - - - 6& 

3, Endeavour to connect Mental Improvement and Acquisitions of 

Knowledge with your ordinary preparations for the Pulpit. 67 

(1.) Pursue, when opportunity occurs, those inquiries which 
may incidentally arise out of the texts or the subjects which 
you are studying, with a view to public discourses. - - ibid 

i 2.) Consult the best authors to whose works you have access, who 
have written on the subject which you propose to discuss. 68 

(3.) Be not satisfied with selecting detached texts and miscella- 
neous subjects, but, in addition to these, enter on a course of 
expository lectures, and a series of connected discourses. - 69 

4.) Let the subjects and the texts intended for the discourses of 
the succeeding Sabbath be selected early in the week. - 70 

4. Let not undue importance be attached to artificial rules for the 

composition of Sermons. - - - - - - 71 

5 Endeavour to ascertain and to exhibit the leading sentiment in- 
tended to be conveyed by the text you have selected, and let 
that leading sentiment dictate the spirit and plan of the dis- 
course. 73 

6. In the study and in the delivery of your Sermons, let your first 

and chief solicitude regard the thought rather than the lan- 
guage. - - .--.---75 

7. Aim chiefly at those qualities of style which are calculated to 

secure the great ends of discourses from the pulpit. - - % 

8. Cultivate, during the early years of your ministry, the habit of 

writing some of your discourses, with due regard to the com- 
position. - - - 79 



9« Allow not the habit of writing Sermons to occasion the adoption 
of any undesirable method of delivering discourses from the 
pulpit. ~ 



80 



CONTENTS, VII 

II. — On Moral Habits. 

HINTS ON THE CULTIVATION OF THOSE MORAL HABITS WHICH WILL 
FACILITATE THE HONOURABLE AND SUCCESSFUL DISCHARGE OF 
PASTORAL DUTIES. 

1. Reflect much on the indispensable and transcendent Importance 

of Personal Religion. - 88 

2. Aim, with the most conscientious solicitude, at Purity of Mo- 

tive in all your Ministerial Engagements. - 93 

3. Repress to the utmost, the feelings of Vanity and Pride, and 

the undue desire of popular Applause. - - - - 96 

I, Let the grand points in Religion have their due prominence in 

your Discourses. -"..-----_. 102 

5. Aim, in preaching, at the utmost Seriousness and Earnest- 
ness of Manner. - 106 

6. Let a deep sense of responsibility, at the Divine Tribunal, 
secure Ministerial Fidelity 109 

7. Let there be, in your Discourses, the utmost Clearness of 

Discrimination between the two great classes of characters of 
which your hearers must necessarily consist. - 112 

S. Let pointed Appeals to the Heart, and direct Applications to 
the Conscience, form a prominent feature of your Discourses. 114 

9. Do not aim at a degree of Originality, to which you are not 
equal, or of which the subject under consideration does not 
admit. ------•-.... 116 

10. Study assiduously the best way of access to the Human Mind. 119 

II. In your Preparations for the Pulpit, endeavour to derive from 

the subject on which you are about to preach, that Spiritual 
"Benefit which vou wish your hearers to receive. * - -133 



VUI CONTENTS. 

12. Attach due importance to the Devotional Parts of Public Wor- 

ship, and be solicitous to conduct them in a spirit of Evan- 
gelical Fervour- 126 

13. Cherish earnest Desires, and encouraging Expectations, of 
Success. 128 

14. Exercise a humble and entire Dependance on the promised 
Influences of the Holy Spirit. 130 

15. Endeavour to adopt the most interesting and efficient methods 

of conveying Religious Instruction to the young. - - 135 

16. Endeavour to regulate, on principles which an enlightened con- 
science will approve, the time devoted to Pastoral Visits and 
Friendly Intercourse. - 14*2 

17. Cultivate, with daily solicitude, Spirituality of Mind. - - 148 

18. Cultivate and display Christian Zeal for the general interests 

of true Religion, both at home and abroad. - 152 

19. Propose to yourself as a Model, the character of the Apostle 
Paul. ---------- 15: 

20. Guard against every approach to a sectarian and party spirit ; 
and cherish the feeling of christian love, to all who embrace 
the faith and "adorn the doctrine" of the Gospel. - - 161 

21. Do full justice to the talents and excellencies of other Min- 
isters, without the spirit of rivalry or jealousy. - - - 163 

22. Deem it not justifiable for a Christian Pastor to indulge, beyond 
certain limits, in the pursuits of Literature and Science. - 160 

23. Suffer not the pressure of Public Engagements to contract 
unduly the exercises of Private Devotion. - 16S 

24. Guard against Levity of Spirit and Demeanour. - - -170 

•15. Cherish the strictest Purity of Thought, of Sentiment, and of 
Demeanour. ------ - 173 



CONTENTS'. IX 

•26. Cultivate, and display, the most delicate sense of Honour 5 in 
all the intercourses of Life, ------ 175 

27- Remember the pre-eminent importance of Prudence and Dis- 
cretion. - - - 177 

28. Study and display that Courtesy, which is the essence of true 

Politeness. - - 180 

•29. Observe Punctuality in all your engagements. • - 182 

30. Do not hastily abandon a Station of Usefulness in which you 
have acquired a Moral Influence. - . ,. - ' - - ' *■ 183 



An Address delivered in the Theological Seminary, Andover. 
September 21, 1824, by the Rev. Justin Edwards. - - 185 



Natural Theology 211 

Evidences of Divine Revelation - 212 

Inspiration of the Scriptures - 217 

Christian Theology ------- 218 

Divine Attributes 219 223 

Trinity in the Godhead ------- 223 

Character of Christ 224 

Sonship of Christ ------- Q2g 

Holy Spirit - - - - 229 

Divine Purposes -------- 230 

Mo ral Agency - - " - - - 232 



32 CONTENTS, 

Original Apostacy -' 235 

Character and state of man since the fall - - - - ibid. 

Atonement 238 

Regeneration - - - - -..- - - - - 241 

Christian Virtue or Holiness 242 

Particular branches of Christian Virtue - 243 

Justification - 245 

Perseverance of Saints ------- 246 

Future State 247 

Future Punishment - 249 

Positive Institutions 250 

Christian Church - ibid. 

Infant Baptism 252 

Mode of Baptism -------- 253 

Lord's Supper ----- . ibid. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In every system of liberal education, there are two 
objects to be proposed and accomplished, — the com- 
munication of valuable knowledge, and the formation 
of those mental habits which may facilitate subsequent 
attainments. Of these two objects, the latter is indis 
putably the more important ; although by many "it 
has been unfortunately forgotten, that the communica- 
tion of truth is only one half of the business of education, 
and is not even the most important half." In this 
©pinion, expressed by Dr. Barrow, Mr. Locke also 
concurs. "As it is in the body," observes this great 
philosopher, " so it is in the mind, practice makes it 
what it is ; and most even of those excellencies which 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

are looked on as natural endowments, will be found. 
when examined into more minutely, to be the product 
of exercise, and to be raised to that pitch by repeated 
actions." In another part of his Essay on the Con- 
duct of the Human Understanding, he observes, to the 
same effect, that, " the faculties of the soul are im- 
proved and made useful to us, just after the same 
manner as our bodies are. Would you have a man, 55 
he asks, " write or paint well, or perform any other 
mechanical operation dexterously and with ease : let 
him have ever so much vigour and activity, suppleness 
and address, yet nobody expects this from him, unless 
he has been used to it, and has employed time and 
pains in fashioning and forming his hand or other 
parts to these motions. Just so it is in the mind. 
Would you have a man reason well, you must use 
him to it betimes, exercise his mind in it, observing the 
connexion of ideas, and following them in train. 55 

If, then, the cultivation of habits favourable to 
mental improvement, be the most important object at 
which an instructor can aim, in his plan of education, 
it is in a high degree desirable, that he should adopt- 
that mode of communicating knowledge to his pupils. 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

by which their powers of mind may be excited to the 
most vigorous exercise, and subjected to the control of 
the most beneficial discipline. 

In the course of the Author's Academic engagements; 
considerations relative to various points of mental 
discipline have been perpetually occurring to his mind, 
and have been very frequently suggested by him to 
his young friends and pupils, without being reduced to 
writing. He has, however, entertained the idea that 
an attempt to convey them in a form more explicit, 
connected and permanent, might not be unacceptable 
to them, and perhaps not altogether without benefit to 
others. He by no means imagines that the following * 
pages embrace all the principles connected with the 
subject of Mental Discipline ; he presents them to the 
reader simply as "Hints" with the hope that they 
will be found to comprehend those principles which 
may be justly deemed of the highest importance. 

He is fully aware that a complete system of Intellec- 
tual Discipline should commence with an inquiry into 
the powers of the mind, and should be pursued by the 
guidance of a philosophical analysis. This the Author 
has not neglected in his course of Academic Lectures. 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

but, in the following pages, his object is merely to 
offer, in the most concise form, such advices as he 
deems of primary importance. 

Perhaps some apology may be deemed necessary 
for the peculiar form in which the following Hints are 
conveyed. The Author has only to observe, that it 
is the style in which, without any undue assumption 
of authority or of importance, a Tutor may be supposed 
respectfully to address those whose intellectual progress 
he anxiously desires to facilitate. It is also a mode of 
address most favourable to conciseness and to clearness 
of expression. 

The advices conveyed in the following pages are 
distributed and arranged under two general divisions : 
The First Division regards Intellectual Habits : 
the Second Division regards Moral Habits. The 
First Division includes two distinct parts : — the first 
part contains, Hints to aid the cultivation of Mental 
Habits with a view to the acquisition of Knowledge, 
in a course of Preparatory Study ;— the second, Hints 
to aid the cultivation of Mental Habits with a view to 
the communication of Knowledge in the engagements 
of the Christian Ministry. This division is adopted, 



INTRODUCTION. XV11 

not only because the line of separation is distinct and 
obvious, but also because the hints suggested, and the 
principles enforced, in the first part, are of general 
utility, and applicable to the cultivation of the human 
mind, whether with or without any reference to pro- 
fessional engagements; while the advices conveyed in 
the second part are almost exclusively applicable to 
those for whose use they are specifically designed. 

In the first instance, the Author submitted to the 
Public only his Hints on the cultivation of Intellec- 
tual Habits. The favourable reception of these 
induced him, after the interval of two years, to publish, 
his Hints on the cultivation of Moral Habits. His 
little work having been for some time out of print, and 
having been frequently in demand, he has been induced 
to re vise, and in many instances to amplify r , his brief 
advices, and to publish the w T hole in this one volume. 
He commits it, in its present form, to the blessing of 
•'the Father of Spirits/' w T ho has often condescended 
to honour, with extensive usefulness, even feeble and 
imperfect efforts. May he deign to connect with the 
perusal of these pages the influence of the Holy Spirit. 

whose office it is to illuminate and renovate, to purifv 

2* 



XV1I1 INTRODUCTION. 

and invigorate the mind of man, and to secure the 
cultivation of those "intellectual and moral habits," by 
which " the man of God may be thoroughly furnished 
unto all good works/' 



MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 



I. 

ON INTELLECTUAL HABITS. 



PART I. 

HINTS WITH A VIEW TO AID THE CULTIVATION OF 
THOSE INTELLECTUAL HABITS WHICH WILL BEST 

facilitate THE ACQUISITION OF KNOW 
LEDGE. 

I. 

Endeavour to form a correct Estimate of your 
own Powers. 

Every individual has been accustomed to form some 
estimate of his own talents. His opinion may have 
been formed in very early life, and may have been 
modified by frequent comparisons between himself 
and his associates, as well as by the commendations 
and animadversions of his superiors. But this estimate 
may be exceedingly incorrect. It may be by far too 
favourable ; or it may be by far too unfavourable. In 
either case the influence will be prejudicial. 



20 



If the estimate be too favourable, not a few evils 
may be generated, of which the tendency will be to 
obstruct intellectual progress. 

It may be expected to produce that pride and self- 
complacency which will conceal from the individual 
the defects of his capacities and his attainments, 
enfeeble the stimulus to exertion, and render him 
impatient, if not indignant, when deficiencies are 
exposed of which he was not aware, and errors which 
he is not prepared to acknowledge. 

It may also induce a person to enter prematurely 
on a species of intellectual effort to which his mental 
energy is inadequate. " Though the faculties of the 
mind are improved by exercise," observes Mr. Locke, 
"yet they must not be put to a stress beyond their 
strength. Quid valeant humeri, quid f err e recusent* 
must be made the measure of every one's understand- 
ing, who has a desire, not only to perform well, but 
to keep up the vigour of his faculties. The mind, by 
being engaged in a task beyond its strength, like the 
body, strained by lifting at a weight too heavy, has 
often its force broken, and thereby gets an unaptness. 
or an aversion, to any vigorous attempt ever after. 
The understanding should be brought to the difficult 
and knotty parts of knowledge, that try the strength 
of thought, and a full bent of the mind, by insensible 
degrees." 

If the estimate which any one has formed of his 
own talents be too unfavourable, the moral effect 
may indeed be advantageous by the excitement of 



21 



humility and modesty, yet it may be unfriendly to 
intellectual progress, by depressing the mind, and 
discouraging those efforts which might be made with 
success. Many pursuits appear on a distant and indis- 
tinct survey to be environed by insurmountable obsta- 
cles, whereas, on a nearer approach, the difficulties 
become less formidable and soon entirely disappear. 
Many of the early attempts which mental discipline 
prescribes, are onerous and irksome to those who are 
only beginning to cultivate habits of intellectual 
exertion ; and the minds of some who are not deficient 
in ability may be ready to shrink from a task, to which 
they imagine themselves unequal. Let them guard 
against such an estimate of their own powers as would 
discourage vigorous exertion, and impede the march 
of intellect, of which it may be said with undoubting 
confidence, " vires acquirit eundoP 

II. 

Attach Importance to the various branches of 
Study prescribed^ not only as they may appear 
directly to bear upon the Pursuits of future life, 
but also as they tend to promote the Discipline and 
Improvement of the Mind. 

From the limited powers of the human mind and 
the restricted time which is usually devoted to intellec- 
tual culture, it is important that a selection of objects 
should be judiciously made from the numerous pur- 
suits of literature and of science. That such a 



22 

election should be made, with a distinct reference to 
the engagements of future life, it is readily conceded ; 
but with a view to ultimate success, those engagements 
should be, in the order of time, a secondary, and by 
no means a primary, object of attention. In a liberal 
education there is much which is preliminary. No 
superstructure should be attempted, till the basis be 
rendered broad and firm. The first object of solicitude 
should be, to give vigour and expansion to the faculties 
of the mind. Whatever pursuits are best adapted to 
secure this end should be selected by the instructor, 
and, by the learner, should be regarded with interest, 
and prosecuted with ardour. Let him not imagine 
that they are of inferior importance, because he cannot 
discern any direct connection with the leading object 
of his professional career. Let him rather inquire into 
their tendency to subject his mind to a salutary disci- 
pline, and to form those habits of thought and study ; 
by which his future progress may be directed and 
facilitated. The Student in Theology, for example, 
may perhaps entertain doubts with regard to the utility 
of studies in Mathematics ', or in the Philosophy of 
the human mind ; yet it is not difficult to exhibit the 
direct and powerful tendency of these pursuits to ge- 
nerate habits of incalculable value to those who, in the 
discharge of their professional engagements, will find 
occasion for the exercise of accurate discrimination, and 
the power of conclusive reasoning. Could it even be 
shown, that the researches of Mathematical Science 
and of Mental Philosophy, would impart but little 



23 

information of real value, still it might be contended, 
that the advantages accruing from the efforts of intel- 
lectual energy which they call forth, must secure to 
the Student an ample remuneration for his expendi- 
ture of time, and to the Tutor a full justification of 
the course prescribed. 

Such was the importance attached to Mathematical 
studies by that able reasoner, the late Bishop Watson, 
that he regarded an initiation into the processes of 
Geometrical Demonstration as incalculably advan- 
tageous in promoting mental discipline. He stated it 
to be his deliberate opinion that were the attention 
restricted even to the first book of Euclid's Elements, 
a familiar acquaintance with its reasonings could not 
fail to render substantial benefit to the mind of the 
learner. 

In recommending a vigorous application of the mind 
to the solution of a question of difficulty in Intellectual 
Philosophy, the late distinguished Professor of moral 
Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh thus urged 
and encouraged the efforts of the Students. 

" In some former severe discussions like the present . 
I endeavoured to extract for you some little consolation, 
from that very fortitude of attention which the discus- 
sion required, — pointing out to you the advantage of 
questions of this kind, in training the mind to those 
habits of serious thought and patient investigation, 
which, considered in their primary relation to the 
intellectual character, are of infinitely greater impor- 
tance than the instruction which the question itself 



24 



may afford. i Generosos animos labor nutrit.' In 
the discipline of reason, as in the training of the 
Athletse, it is not for a single victory, which it may give 
to the youthful champion, that the combat is to be 
valued, but for that knitting of the joints, and harden- 
ing of the muscles, — that quickness of eyes and 
collectedness of effort, which it is forming ? for the 
struggles of more illustrious fields. 53 * 

III. 

Apply the Mind with full Vigour and undivided 
Attention to every intellectual Pursuit in which 
you engage. 

In the entrance on a course of mental discipline, 
the effort to fix the attention for any length of time on 
the object of study is found to be difficult, if not irk- 
some. Ideas which would divert the mind into a 
different train of thought are suggested, either by 
external circumstances, or by the subject under con- 
sideration ; and as many of these ideas may be more 
interesting, as well as more familiar to the mind, they 
are not repressed without difficulty, and they still recur 
after reiterated efforts of exclusion. This state of mind 
induces much more painful fatigue than the most 
vigorous efforts of attention, especially as it is associated 
with the feelings of dissatisfaction and regret. In this 
case, to use the words of Mr. Stewart, "it is not an 

* Dr. Thos. Brown's Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human 
MinA VoI.IJ.page35J. 



25 

exclusive and steady attention that we give to the 
object, but we are losing sight of it, and recurring to it 
every instant ; and the painful efforts of which we are 
conscious, are not (as we are apt to suppose them to 
be) efforts of uncommon attention, but unsucessful 
attempts to keep the mind steady to its object, and to 
exclude the extraneous ideas, which are from time to 
time soliciting its notice." 

In proportion to the facility of repelling the intrusion 
of these extraneous ideas, and of directing a fixed 
attention to the object of study, the mind is prepared 
for success in the operations of intellect. There is 
even reason to attribute mental superiority, in no small 
degree, to the possession of an habitual power of control 
over the train of thought which occupies the mind ; and 
to this power of attention, we are informed, Sir Isaac 
Newton himself ascribed his loftiest attainments in 
science. 

Let then the mind of the Student be deeply im- 
pressed with a conviction of the importance of this habit, 
and of the practicability of making great and indefinite 
progress in acquiring the power of fixed attention 
Let him resolve that he will daily make the most 
vigorous efforts ; that he will summon the full energy 
of his mind, whenever he is engaged in study ; and 
that he will never tolerate in himself a habit of languid 
and intermitting application. Let him be assured, 
that if ever he allow this, he not only loses his time, 
and frustrates his immediate object, but that he injures 
the tone and impairs the vigour of his mind, " When 

3 



26 



you remit your attention, * said Epictetus, "do not 
fancy you can recover it when you please, but remem- 
ber that by the fault of to-day, you will be in a worse 
state to-morrow, and a habit of not attending is induced, 
Why should you not preserve a constant attention? 
There is no concern of life in which attention is not 
required." 

In order successfully to cultivate the power of atten- 
tion, we must endeavour to combine energy and 
tranquillity. There should be, as much as possible, 
freedom from all that disturbs ; and then a full 
excitement and continued effort of intellectual energy. 
The effort may be difficult, and the success imperfect ; 
but, beyond all doubt, the difficulty will diminish, the 
success will be progressive, and the attainment, even 
in a limited degree, will be an ample remuneration for 
strenuous and persevering exertions. " What should 
we have thought of the competitor in the Olympic course 
(asks Dr. Thomas Brown, in an animated address to 
his Students) whose object was the glory of a prize, — if. 
with that illustrious reward before him — with strength 
and agility that might insure him the possession of it— 
and with all the assembled multitudes of Greece to wit- 
ness his triumph, he had turned away from the contest, 
and from victory, because he was not to tread on softness, 
and to be refreshed as with fragrance, as he moved along ! 
Tn that knowledge which awaits your studies, in the 
various sciences to which your attention may be turned, 
.you have a much nobler prize before you ; and there- 
fore I shall not hesitate to call forth ? occasionally, all 



27 

the vigour of your attention, at the risk of a little tem- 
porary fatigue, as often as it shall appear to me, that, by 
exciting you to more than ordinary intellectual 
activity, I can facilitate your acquisition of a reward, 
which the listless exertions of the indolent never can 
obtain, and which is as truly the prize of strenuous 
effort, as the Palms of the Circus or the Course."* 

IV. 

Uniformly endeavour to attain clear and precise 
Ideas on every subject of investigation ; and never 
allow indistinctness and confusion of thought to 
remain in the mind % xoithout a determined effort to 
arrive at discriminating and accurate conceptions. 

A disposition to rest satisfied with obscure and 
indefinite notions, on subjects within the limits of our 
knowledge, is at once an indication of the want of 
mental vigour, and a most formidable barrier in the 
way of intellectual improvement. On the other hand, 
a dissatisfaction with imperfect and half-formed con- 
ceptions is a most powerful stimulus to further inquiry, 
and an effectual preservative from the error of taking 
for granted, that we already know that of which we 
are, in truth, only beginning to perceive our ignorance. 
"The greatest part of true knowledge," observes 
Mr. Locke, " lies in a distinct perception of things 
in themselves distinct. And some men give more 

* Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind, Vol. lpage 133, 



28 



clear light and knowledge, by the bare, distinct 
stating of a question, than others by taking of it in 
gross, whole hours together. In this, they who so state 
a question, do no more, but separate and disentangle 
the parts of it, one from another, and lay them, when 
so disentangled, in their due order. This often, without 
any more ado, resolves the doubt, and shows the mind 
where the truth lies. In learning any thing, as little 
should be proposed to the mind at once as possible ; 
and that being understood, and fully mastered, proceed 
to the next adjoining part, yet unknown, simple un- 
perplexed proposition, belonging to the matter in 
hand, and tending to the clearing what is principally 
designed." 

Whether our immediate object be to arrive at clear 
conceptions in our own train of thoughts, or to convey 
our ideas with clearness to others, it is of the greatest 
importance to study precision in the use of language. 
It is by the aid of language that we carry on our 
processes of thought ; andxmless we accustom ourselves 
to accurate definitions and distinctions, our notions must 
be obscure, our reasonings perplexed, and our conclu- 
sions frequently erroneous. We often impose upon 
ourselves, by falsely imagining that we sufficiently 
understand a subject, because we are familiar with 
many of the comprehensive terms in which that subject 
is usually discussed, whereas to many of those terms 
we may never have attached any precise or 
definite ideas, 



29 



Endeavour car ef ally to discriminatebetween sound 
and false Reasoning ; that you may readily detect, 
and never employ , Arguments wanting in solidity* 

The intermixture of arguments which are weak and 
inconclusive with such as are strong and irresistible, has 
often been subservient to the interests of sophistry : 
and to the undiscerning, this has made " the worse 
appear the better reason." But if this has frequently 
been practised, with express design, by the advocate of 
error, it has also been sometimes practised, without 
design, by the defender of truth. It has too often been 
forgotten, thai ( arguments are to be weighed, not 
numbered ; and that, in truth, a weak, a doubtful, or 
an inconclusive argument, has the effect of diminishing 
the force of those which are undeniably strong. It 
excites in the mind suspicion, both as to the talents of 
the reasoner and the accuracy of his opinions. In 
short it has the same effect in the process of moral 
reasoning as a negative quantity in the solution of 
algebraic problems. It effects a diminution of value 
to the full amount of the quantity which it represents 
In the conduct of life, and certainly in every profes- 
sional career, it is of still greater importance to exercise 
a sound and discriminating judgment, than even to 
have at command ample stores of literature and science, 
A lesson of no inconsiderable value should be learned 
from the example of those writers (and they are not 
few in number) whose memory has been much more 

3* 



30 



successfully cultivated than their judgment ; who excite 
admiration at the rich and varied treasures of their 
knowledge, without inspiring respect for their opinions, 
or confidence in their reasonings ; who can, with 
apparent facility, borrow illustrations and embellish- 
ments from almost every department of science, but 
employ them in aid of opinions formed with incautious 
haste, supported by fallacious arguments, and main 
iained with all the confidence of dogmatism. 

VI. 

Endeavour to acquire the Habit of strict and 
diligent Investigation. 

66 To investigate, in the original sense of the word< 
is to search for an unknown object by discovering 
and following out the traces which it has left, in the 
path which leads to its unknown situation. Thus we 
find where a person is concealed, by tracing his footsteps 
from the place whence he set out." In the investiga- 
tion of truth, we set out from a point which is already 
ascertained, with a view to our arrival at a point not yet 
ascertained. But this progress is not to be effected by 
plans arbitrary or capricious. Our steps must be direct- 
ed, and our efforts must be guided, by certain principles 
of inquiry and research. There is a certain process of 
thought 3 — an unbroken series of causes and conse- 
quences, by which alone we can pass from that which 
is known to that which is unknown. If any of the links 
of that chain be disjoined, or rather if they be not clearly 



31 



discovered, the interval may indeed be supplied by 
conjecture, but the investigation is incomplete. Now 
the true spirit of investigation, and a facility in pursuing 
the requisite inquiries, are not of easy acquisition. 
They are the result of frequent efforts and judicious 
discipline. But the value of the attainment is an 
ample compensation for the labour which it demands, 
The habit acquired is applicable to all the objects 
which are placed within the grasp of the human 
faculties. It is equally requisite, and equally benefi- 
cial, in the investigation of individual character, or of 
historic facts, of the phenomena of matter and of mind, 
and of the still more interesting and momentous truths 
which constitute the system of divine revelation. 

This habit of careful investigation will exert a 
salutary influence on the intellectual character, in 
producing a manly independence of mind. He who 
has been accustomed to examine for himself, will no& 
be disposed to rely implicitly on the opinion of others, 
or to surrender his judgment at the demand of opi- 
nionative dogmatism. While he will gratefully receive 
and acknowledge the aid of others, in correcting his 
opinions and extending his views, he will be in no 
danger of resembling those " who resign their judg- 
ment to the last man they hear or read ; who, came- 
leon-like, take the colour of what is laid before them, 
and as soon lose and resign it to the next that happen* 
to come in their way." 

The disposition which best qualifies for successful 
investigation is admirably exhibited m the following 



32 



passage, by Dr. Thomas Brown : " It is a spirit quick 
to pursue whatever is within the reach of human 
intellect; but is not less quick to discern the bounds 
that limit every human inquiry; and which, therefore* 
in seeking much, seeks only what man may learn :— 
which knows how to distinguish what is just in itself 
from what is merely accredited by illustrious names ;— 
but which, at the same time, alive, with congenial 
feeling, to every intellectual excellence, and candid to 
the weakness from which no excellence is wholly privi- 
leged, can dissent and confute without triumph, as it 
admires without envy." 

vn. 

Avail yourselves of the assistance of others* 
xohether tutors, associates, or authors, only so far as 
to obtain the aid actually requisite, and not to super 
sede the utmost efforts of your own minds. 

The question perpetually arising in the mind of the 
student of remiss and indolent habits is — How shall I 
facilitate my labour by obtaining assistance from others? 
The question equally familiar to the mind of the student 
athirst for knowledge, and willing to acquire it at the 
expense of exertion is — How shall I accomplish my 
object with the least assistance from others? It is 
not difficult to predict the tendency and result of either 
habit of mind. By the one, the intellectual character 
is degraded and enfeebled ; by the other, it attains 
dignity and elevation, energy and self-command. He 



33 



who always does his best will usually do well, and 
often more than well; and if he fail occasionally to 
accomplish his object, his failure will neither be ac- 
companied by self-reproach, nor followed by a relaxation 
of effort. The assistance which is within his reach, 
he will resolutely decline, till his best energies have been 
put forth: he has been initiated into the habit of 
applying himself to grapple with a difficulty; a diffi- 
culty which appeared formidable when viewed at a 
distance, with only a transient glance, has often been 
conquered by the first encounter ; and in a better 
cause than that on which the exclamation was first 
made, he has been prepared to say u veni, vidi, vicV 
Or if a vigorous, patient, and persevering investigation 
was requisite, he has at length entered into the recom- 
pense of him who expressed the delight of no ordinary 
mind, when he exclaimed suprjxa. 

VIII. 

Be not only ivilling, but desirous, to have every 
Defect i?i your powers, attainments and productions, 
fully and explicitly pointed out. 

The disclosure may be unwelcome ; it may be even 
unexpected ; but it will be salutary. It may be condu- 
cive to the interests as well of intellectual as of moral 
culture. A capacity which appears contracted may be 
father developed, — may be greatly expanded ; attain- 
ments, which at present disappoint expectation, may be 
considerably augmented : and the productions which 



34 



may justly be regarded as unfavourable specimens oi 
intellectual effort, may supply materials of comparison 
with future exercises, from which may be derived the 
most cheering encouragement. 

It is one of the many advantages arising from asso- 
ciation with other students in a public seminary, that 
such defects are rendered apparent to the individuals 
by whom they are displayed. The cultivation of the 
understanding may doubtless be carried on in the ab- 
sence of living instructors, and without associates in 
study. Books may supply, in part, the want of tutors, 
and plodding diligence may amass stores of knowledge 
in the deepest seclusion ; but then the means are wanting, 
not only of abridging unnecessary labour, and remov- 
ing formidable obstructions, but also of detecting those 
defects of knowledge, those prejudices of early education, 
those mistaken notions, those injurious habits, those 
numerous errors and blemishes of performance, which 
might never have become apparent to the individuals 
themselves. 

To receive with docility and with gratitude the expo- 
sure of our own defects and mistakes is an attainment of 
no small value. It has a beneficial influence in restrain- 
ing us from thinking more highly of our talents and 
of our productions than we ought to think, and it 
renders even the detection of our defects an excitement 
to intellectual progress, and a means of moral improve 
ment. 



35 
IX. 

Let your plan of Study, and the arrangement 
for the distribution of your Time, be judiciously 
formed, and prosecuted with the utmost diligence 
and punctuality. 

The beneficial effect of order and regularity in the 
discharge of engagements, especially when a variety 
of objects may demand attention, must be in some 
degree apparent to every one. To the student, not less 
than to the man of business, is regularity of method 
important in the arangement of his pursuits : as if. 
prevents loss of time by embarrassing suspense, with 
regard to the object which, at any given hour, claims 
immediate attention. Even a plan of arrangement, 
in some respects defective and objectionable, would 
secure to a student a decided advantage over another 
individual, who should disregard order and method : 
incalculable then must be the benefit arising from 
regulations, which proceed on wise and enlightened 
principles. A few suggestions on this point may be 
deserving of notice. 

1. Let not the plan laid down be so difficult of ob- 
servance, as to incur the danger of frequent failure or 
irregularity. 

It is wise for us to consider, not only what we could 
wish to accomplish, but also what it is probable that, 
with our habits, and in our circumstances, we shall be 
able to effect. By attempting too much, we often 
accomplish less than w T e should have effected, ypith 



36 



plans guided by principles of greater moderation ; and 
one reason which may be assigned for this is, that after 
having repeatedly fallen short of the line prescribed, 
our plans ceased to have authority in our own estima- 
tion, lose their practical influence on the distribution of 
our time, and having thus been virtually r , they are at 
length avowedly abandoned, 

2. Let the proportion of time and attention devoted 
to every object of study be regulated by a regard both 
to its real and to its relative importance. 

3. Let the most important studies be assigned to 
those hours in which we find, by experience, that we 
can exert our intellectual energies with the greatest 
facility and intensity. 

4. Let the minor intervals of time which precede or 
follow the more important engagements be duly and 
economically improved. 

How many valuable acquisitions may be secured by 
filling up, with appropriate reading, the moments of 
occasional and uncertain leisure, which Boyle calls 
u the parentheses or interludes of time. These, com- 
ing between more important engagements, are wont 
to be lost by most men for want of a value for them ; 
and even by good men for want of skill to preserve 
them. And as some goldsmiths and refiners are wont 
to save the very sweepings of their shops, because they 
may contain in them some filings or dust of gold and 
silver, I see not why a christian may not be as careful, 
not to lose the fragments of a thing incomparably 
more precious/' 



37 



X. 

Guard against those Mental Habits which may 
be eventually though imperceptibly prejudicial, by 
impairing the vigour of the Mind or of the Body. 

Of these several may be distinctly specified :— 
1. Undue continuance of studious exertion and 
mental excitement. 

"~ The opinion has been publicly expressed by a Pro 
lessor of eminence in a northern University, that no 
man can habitually apply his mind to intense study 
during more than six hours in the day, without injury 
to his health. This opinion, be it remembered, ap- 
plies to the determined energy of mental application 
in severe study ; and if to six hours of serious study 
be added three or four hours of such reading as conveys 
instruction, without inducing any consciousness of 
fatigue, the student will have made near approaches to 
that line, beyond which to trespass is compatible 
neither with safety nor with duty. 

Let not the young and ardent adventurer in the path 
of knowledge imagine, that, by the omission of the 
hours due to sleep, and to bodily exercise, he can be 
a gainer upon the whole. How many distressing 
instances have there been in which it has too plainly 
appeared, that undue exertions and excitement have 
undermined even a vigorous constitution, and disquali- 
fied for the performance of those duties for which a 
course of study is the intended preparation. And 



38 



should these fearful evils not be entailed, still it may be 
shown, that undue application defeats the objects iri 
view, and proceeds upon principles of calculation 
altogether erroneous. In all intellectual as well as in 
mechanical labours, the work accomplished must be in 
proportion to the power exerted. But the power which 
the mind can put forth in any study, depends upon a 
variety of circumstances ; among which are to be inclu- 
ded, its freedom from exhaustion and depression, and 
from those disabilities to which it will be subject, if 
the health and spirits be impaired. No hesitation can 
there be in hazarding the assertion, that in the experi- 
ment of a month or a year, it will be found, that the 
student will actually accomplish more of intellectual 
labour, by ten hours of daily study, with two hours of 
bodily exercise and recreation, than he could effect in 
twelve hours without such intermission. 

2. An undue eagerness of desire to complete any 
performance within a given time. 

The tranquil exercise of thought may be carried on 
with energy for a considerable time, without inducing 
mental weariness or occasioning effects injurious to 
health. Very different, however, are the effects of 
study, when pursued with any degree of anxiety or per- 
turbation, and especially when accompanied with a 
restless and impatient eagerness to complete the perform- 
ance, or to accomplish, in a given time, a certain task 
which we have prescribed. There are, indeed, minds ha- 
bitually inclined to indolence or to procrastination, which 
derive benefit from the stimulus arising from such a 



39 

requirement ; but when the stimulus arising from other 
considerations is sufficiently powerful, that additional 
excitement may become highly injurious. They who 
feel the pressure of numerous engagements are frequent- 
ly too eager to complete the literary labour in which they 
are employed, before they proceed to another pursuit, to 
which either the plan of study or the call of duty may 
require their immediate attention ; and the hurried at- 
tempt will either, by undue despatch, be unfavourable 
to the performance itself, or by the disquieting 
anxiety induced, be injurious to the corporeal frame. 
It is related of Mr. John Wesley, that when a reference 
on one occasion, was made to his numerous avocations, 
he replied, — "Though I am always in haste, I am 
never in a hurry, because I never undertake more work 
than I can go through with perfect calmness of spirits 

3. An inability to transfer the attention with ease 
from one subject to another ; or, when it is desirable, to 
unbend and recreate the mind. 

The love of variety, of novelty, and of relief from con- 
tinued efforts of thought, renders it easy for the undisci- 
plined mind to dimiss from its notice a subject to which 
its attention has been directed. But in proportion as 
habits of fixed and persevering attention are cultivated, 
and feelings of interest in the pursuit of knowledge are 
awakened, it becomes difficult to disengage the mind, 
at pleasure, from any subject of consideration. Yet this 
want of control over the thoughts and energies of the 
mind is at once unfavourable to progress in knowledge, 
to the enjoyment of the pleasures of social intercourse. 



40 



and to that entire recreation of mind, by which it is 
prepared to renew, with increased energy, its application 
to severe study. It is most desirable, for reasons suffi- 
ciently obvious, to cultivate vivacity and cheerfulness 
of disposition ; and, in order to this, it is of no small 
importance to be able to withdraw the mind, at pleasure, 
from pursuits which, by their continuance, occasion 
fatigue and abstraction, and to yield to the full impression 
of surrounding objects or of enlivening conversation. 

It is related by Count Segur, as a characteristic trait 
of the late Emperor Napoleon, that he possessed the 
faculty of "throwing aside the most important occupa- 
tions whenever he pleased ; either for the sake of variety 
or of rest ; for in him the power of volition surpassed 
that of imagination. In this respect he reigned over 
himself as much as he did over others." 

XI. 

Let it be your constant aim to arrive at general 
Principles, on all the subjects to which your atten- 
tion is directed. 

Without the guidance of general principles, the hu- 
man mind resembles a vessel at sea, without chart or 
compass, or pilot. It must fluctuate in doubt and uncer- 
tainty, and amidst the agitations of conflicting sentiments, 
it must be at the mercy of almost every wind of opinion, 
and unprepared to encounter the rising wave of opposi- 
tion. In every department of human knowledge, whether 
of literature or of science, whether of reason or of revela 



41 

tion, there are certain fixed principles — certain general 
truths ? .from which we must set out in our researches, and 
by which we must be guided in our reasonings. To bor- 
row the language of Mr. Locke, "there are fundamental 
truths that lie at the bottom, the basis upon which a great 
many others rest, and in which they have their consisten- 
cy. These are teeming truths, rich in store, with which 
they furnish the mind, and like the lights of heaven, are 
not only beautiful and entertaining in themselves, but 
give light and evidence to other things, that, without 
them, could not be seen or known. Such is that admi- 
rable discovery of Newton, that all bodies gravitate to 
one another, which may be counted the basis of natural 
philosophy. Our Saviour's great rule — i that we 
should love our neighbour as ourselves,' is such a fun^ 
damental truth, for the regulating human society, that. 
I think, by that alone, one might, without difficulty, 
determine all the cases and doubts in social morality* 
These, and such as these, are the truths we should en= 

deavour to find out and store our minds with." "We 

should accustom ourselves, in any question proposed, to 
examine and find out upon what it bottoms. Most of the 
difficulties that come in our way, when well considered 
and traced, lead us to some proposition which, known 
to be true, clears the doubt, and gives an easy solu- 
tion of the question." 



42 

XII. 

Be not satisfied with the Knowledge you have ac 
quired on any subject of Investigation, till you can 
express the result of your Inquiries and Reflections 
in your own ivords, either in Conversation or in 
Writing. 

The attempt to convey our ideas to others is the most 
satisfactory test by which we may ascertain their cor- 
rectness or inaccuracy — their completeness or deficiency. 
Nothing is more common than for those whose mind* 
are undisciplined, to flatter themselves that they have 
a competent acquaintance with a subject, on which 
their ideas are still obscure and confused, and on which 
they betray obscurity and confusion, as soon as they 
attempt the communication of their thoughts to others. 
It is therefore of great importance in seminaries of educa- 
tion, that an adequate test should be applied by the 
tutor, throughout the whole progress of study, both by 
instituting a strict examination on the course of reading 
prescribed, and by requiring frequent exercises in com- 
position on the subjects to which attention has been 
directed. On the same principle it would be found 
highly beneficial* were those who are associated in a 
studious career, to bring each other to the test by mutual 
examination, and by conversing freely on points of im- 
portance and of difficulty. It would be too much to 
assert, that, in every instance, where there is clearness 
of conception, there will be facility of expression, since 
(here may be causes of embarrassment in the attempt 



43 

to convey ideas, which do not arise from the obscurity 
of the ideas themselves ; but where no such causes are 
in operation, it may be presumed, that confusion of 
language has its origin in confusion of thought, and 
that we ought not to give ourselves credit for a compe- 
tent acquaintance with any subject, till we can convey 
our ideas on that subject with precision and perspi- 
cuity. 

"My method of study," said President Edwards* 
" has been very much by writing ; applying myself in 
this way to improve every important hint ; pursuing 
the clue to my utmost when any thing in reading, 
meditation, or conversation has been suggested to my 
mind, that seemed to promise light on any weighty 
point ; thus penning what appeared to me my best 
thoughts on innumerable subjects, for my own benefit. 
The longer I prosecuted my studies in this method, the 
more habitual it became, and the more pleasant and 
profitable I found it. The further I travelled in this* 
way, the wider the field opened." 



ON INTELLECTUAL HABITS. 



PART II. 

11 The Improvement of the Understanding," observes 
Mr. Locke, " is for two ends; first, for our own increase 
of knowledge ; secondly, to enable us to deliver that 
knowledge to others. The latter of these, if it be not 
the chief end of study in a gentleman ; yet it is at 
least equal to the other, since the greatest part of his 
business and usefulness in the world is by the influence 
of what he says, or writes to others." 

Now if even to those who are not engaged in any 
department of professional life, it be so important to 
acquire a facility in the communication of knowledge, 
how much more important must be that attainment 
to those, whose official duty it is, to convey to the 
minds of men, in various classes of society, knowledge 
of incomparable value. 

I proceed, then, to offer 

HINTS TO AID THE CULTIVATION OFMENTAL HABITS'. 

with a view to THE COMMUNICATION OF 
KNOWLEDGE in the engagements of the 
christian ministry. 

For the sake of convenient arrangement, I shall 



46 

distribute the advices I have to suggest under three 
general divisions : 

I shall endeavour to exhibit — The importance of 
still pursuing with diligence Plans of Mental Improve- 
ment, after terminating the Course of Academic 
Discipline :— The Course of Study which it is most 
important to pursue in the earlier stages of the Chris- 
tian Ministry :— and, The best method of conducting 
direct Preparations for the Pulpit. 



THE IMPORTANCE OF STILL PURSUING WITH 
DILIGENCE PLANS OF MENTAL IMPROVEMENT, AFTER 
TERMINATING THE COURSE OF ACADEMIC DISCI- 
PLINE. 

Lit would be absurd for a Student toimaginejhat 
on quitting the College, and entering on the active 
duties of the Christian Ministry, he has "finished 
his studies" when in truth they are but commenced. 

The foundation only is laid — the superstructure you 
have yet to rear. Only the elements of knowledge 
have you at present attained : let these first principles 
stimulate, not satisfy, your desire of knowledge ; let 
them guide, not limit your researches. You have in 
some degree acquired, but you have not yet matured 
the intellectual habits essential to the due discharge 
of the office on which you now enter. You are now~ 
arrived at a critical period in the history of your mind. 
It is now to be determined, whether, in respect of 



47 



mental energy and attainments, you are to remain 
stationary, with self-reproach and merited disgrace, or 
to prosecute, with ardour, a course of unremitted appli- 
cation and honourable proficiency. 

Can you hesitate to admit the necessity of blending 
the character of the Student with that of the Minister ? 
Are you prepared to specify the branches of academic 
study in which you have already arrived at a compe- 
tency of knowledge ? Let it even be granted, that in 
•some of your literary and scientific pursuits you have 
attained a proficiency, at once respectable and valuable ; 
and let it be conceded, that farther advances in some 
of these studies can scarcely be regarded as compatible 
with the avocations on which you now enter. Still, 
must you not be compelled to acknowledge, that there 
are other studies of primary importance, in which, 
with your advantages, it would be culpable not to make 
strenuous and habitual exertions, with a view to farther 
progress ? How powerful are the considerations which 
urge you to the diligent investigation of the sacred 
Scriptures — to the constant study of the languages in 
which they were originally written — and, to the accu- 
mulation, from various sources, of that knowledge 
by which they may be explained, illustrated, and 
defended. 

II. The importance of the object at which the 
Christian Ministry aims •, peremptorily requires the 
most strenuous and diligent Improvement of tht 
Mental Powers. 

i: How high and awful a function is that which piet 



48 



poses to establish in the soul an interior dominion—to 
illuminate its powers by a celestial light — and introduce 
it to an intimate, ineffable, and unchanging alliance 
with the Father of Spirits. The moment we permit 
ourselves to think lightly of the Christian Ministry, 
our right arm is withered ; nothing but imbecility and 
relaxation remains. For no man ever excelled in a pro- 
fession to which he did not feel an attachment bordering 
on enthusiasm ; though what in other professions is 
enthusiasm, is, in ours, the dictate of sobriety and 
truth.' 5 * 

They who enter on this arduous and responsible 
office are understood to give, and usually give in terms 
the most explicit, and with assurances the most solemn , 
a pledge, that they will devote to its momentous labours 
their best talents and their assiduous exertions. No-.- 
thing less than this is due to the God whom we serve, 
the cause in which we have embarked, and the indi- 
viduals who attach themselves to our Ministry. If the 
pledge be given, and the obligation be sacred, conscience 
is deeply concerned in endeavouring to redeem it with 
inviolable fidelity and constancy. There may be, on 
the part of some, a facility in the discharge of public 
duties, arising from talents of a superior order, or at 
least of a peculiar adaptation to certain engagements ; 
but this by no means exonerates them, even in the 
slightest degree, from the duty of improving, by unre 

* Sermon on the Discouragements and Supports of the ChrjsjttaTL 
Ministry, by the Rev, Robert Hall. 



49 

mitted diligence, the talents they possess. If to them 
more be given, of them more will be required. 

III. The Difficulties which are to be encmntered 
in the discharge of the Christian Ministry require 
the most vigorous exertioyis, and the most diligent 
application. / 

The difficulties to which I refer are of an intellectual 
kind, and arise especially from three sources : 

(1.) The diversity of mental character prevailing 
in the auditories tve address. 

It is the just remark of Dr. Campbell, in his PhUoso 
phy of Rhetoric, that "the more mixed the auditory is 2 
the greater is the difficulty of speaking to them with 
effect. The preacher has therefore a more delicate part 
to perform than either the pleader or the senator. The 
auditors, though rarely so accomplished as to requite 
the same accuracy of composition or acuteness in 
reasoning as may be expected in the other tWo ? 
are more various in age, rank, taste, inclinations, senti- 
ments, and prejudices." " To men of various casts and 
complexions, it is obvious," observes Mr. Hall, "a corre- 
sponding difference in the selection of topics and the 
method of appeal is requisite. Some are only capable 
of digesting the first principles of religion, on whom 
it is necessaiy often to inculcate the same lessons, with 
the reiteration of parental solicitude : there are others of 
a wider grasp of comprehension, who must be indulged 
with an ampler variety, and to whom views of religion 

less obvious, less obtrusive, and demanding a more vigo- 

5 



50 

um$ exercise of the understanding, are peculiarly adapt- 
ed. Some are accustomed to contemplate every subject in 
a light so cool and argumentative, that they are not easi- 
ly impressed with any thing which is not presented in 
the garb of reasoning ; — there are others of a softer tem- 
perament, who are more easily won by tender strokes 
of pathos."* 

After such quotations, it is assuredly sufficient simply 
to ask the question, whether any preacher, and especial- 
ly any young preacher, can imagine himself qualified 
to contend with difficulties so formidable, without habits 
of studious consideration and deep reflection ? 

(2.) The weighty andfrequent demand made upon 
the Mental Resources of a Christian Minister in the 
present day. 

In the discharge of his stated duties on the Sabbath, 
and of the frequent engagements which arise out of the 
excitement of benevolent activity in the present day, 
how heavy are the demands upQn the time and talents 
and attainments of the Christian Minister ! With a limit- 
ed degree of opportunity for preparation, on what a varies 
ty of subjects he has to discourse, — what a versatility of 
thought he has occasion to display. How much he 
needs — an ample store of general principles, on almost 
all subjects interesting to the heart of man — well-digest- 
ed views of the whole system of revealed truth — fa- 
miliarity with the most important points of Biblical Criti- 
cism — and materials derived from almost all the sources 

*Sermon before-cited, 



51 

of human knowledge, in order to present to his hearers, 
rich, diversified and interesting materials of illustration; 
to what ever subject he invites their regard. Surely 
qualifications for such engagements are not to be expect- 
ed without extensive reading and perpetual application, 

(3.) The increased circulation of Knowledge both 
literary and scientific, among va rious classes of 
society. 

It is naturally expected that a Minister should be 
superior to most of his hearers, not only in his knowledge 
of the Scriptures, but also in mental culture and literary 
attainments. To secure, by a wide interval, that superi- 
ority, was formerly by no means difficult for those Mi- 
nisters who had enjoyed the advantages of a liberal edu- 
cation. In the present day this is not so easy a task. 
In most congregations there are not a few who have been 
versed in the principles of literature and of science, and 
who are qualified to detect inaccuracies of thought or 
expression, which might formerly have passed without 
notice. It should be deeply impressed upon the mind 
of every Minister, when he embarks on his professional 
course, that as the standard of information among all 
classes is perpetually rising, the standard of learning 
and of talent among the Ministers of the Gospel must 
be raised at least in an equal degree. 

IV. The importance of unwearied Assiduity in a 
course of Mental Improvement, is evinced by the 
contrast observable between different classes of 
Christian Ministers. 

From the observation and inquiries I have made, in 
reference to the plans pursued by Young Ministers after 



52 



terminating their academic career, I have been disposed 
to regard them as forming two distinct classes ; the one 
class consisting of those who by a course of mental 
discipline, are making every year progressive and 
obvious advances in their qualifications for public 
usefulness— the other class consisting of those who, year 
after year exhibit the same unvarying complexion of in- 
leectual character, without any perceptible progress in 
comprehension of mind, power of thought, or extent of 
knowledge. Their resources appear to be exhausted : 
their sermons instead of presenting to their hearers ; 
^things new and old," reiterate ideas perfectly familiar in 
forms of expression which may be almost anticipated, 
It is scarcely necessary to add, that, under such ministra- 
tions, but little interest is excited, but little impression is 
produced. Indolence on the part of the minister induces 
torpor on the part of the hearers ; or if on their part strong- 
er feelings are excited, they are emotions of painful 
regret and growing dissatisfaction. 

On the other hand, the diligent student, guided by 
the noblest principles, and impelled by the strongest 
motives, is constantly adding to his stores of knowledge, 
and his facilities for the discharge of professional 
duties. If his direct preparation for the pulpit, render- 
ed easier by the power of habit, and the augmentation 
of his materials of thought, demand a less proportion 
of his time, he by no means contracts within narrower 
limits the efforts of his mind, but delights in the 
opportunity afforded for the accumulation of the most 
important knowledge. By diligently pursuing this 



53 

course, lie must be necessarily increasing his ministerial 
qualifications, and rising in the estimation of the people 
of his charge. 

"Oh! what abundance of things are there," ex- 
claims the inimitable Baxter, " which a minister should 
understand ; and what a great defect it is to be igno- 
rant of them ; and how much shall we miss such 
knowledge in our work ! Many ministers study only 
to compose their sermons, and very little more, when 
there are so many books to be read, and so many 
matters that we should not be unacquainted with, 
Nay, in the study of our sermons we are too negligent, 
gathering only a few naked heads, and not considering 
of the most forcible expressions by which we should 
set them home to men's hearts ! We must study how 
to convince and get within men, and how to bring 
each truth to the quick, and not leave all this to our 
extemporary promptitude, unless it be in cases of 
necessity. Certainly, brethren, experience will teach 
you, that men are not made learned or wise without 
hard study and unwearied labours." 

Let those labours, however, have a right direction, 
that there may be no labour lost. Let them have a 
bearing, more or less direct, upon the proper engage 
ments of the Christian Ministry. 

The sacred office, both from its arduousness and 
from its importance, is abundantly sufficient to employ- 
in its own proper pursuits, the full- energy of the most 
powerful and capacious mind. To the Christian 
Minister, more pointedly than to any man engaged in 

5* 



54 



secular avocations, the weighty remark of Mr. Cecil 
applies : — "Every man should aim to do one thing 
well. If he dissipates his attention on several objects^ 
he may have excellent talents intrusted to him, but 
they will be intrusted to no good end. Concentrated 
on his proper object, they might have a vast energy : 
but dissipated on several they will have none. Let 
Other objects be pursued indeed; but only so far as 
they may subserve the main purpose. By neglecting 
this rule, I have seen frivolity and futility Written on 
minds of great power ; and by regarding it, I have 
seen very limited minds acting in the first rank of 
their profession — I have seen a large capital and a 
great stock dissipated, and I have seen a small capital 
and stock improved to great riches." 

" Give attendance to reading" is the Scripture rule 
for Ministerial Study. a Mr. Scott explains it as refer 
ring to the study of the Scriptures, or of any other boote 
which could add to the fund of profitable knowledge 
In an earlier period of life, he candidly confesses that 
his notions on these subjects were too contracted* 
Mature consideration, however, formed his studious life 
upon more enlarged principles, which he never failed 
strongly to inculcate upon young men under his care 
and influence, marking at the same time the importance 
of a due subordination to the main end. A minister 
of the present day said once to a friend who found 
him reading Gibbon's History, that he read every thing 
with a particular view to his ministry, and that he 



55 

collected some materials for the pulpit from books of 
almost every description."* 
I now proceed to offer some specifice advices, 

ii. 

ON THE COURSE OF STUDY, WITH A VIEW TO 
MENTAL IMPROVEMENT, WHICH IT IS MOST IM- 
PORTANT TO PURSUE IN THE EARLIER STAGES OF 
THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY. 

Shall I render myself liable to the charge of indulg- 
ing unfounded and illiberal suspicions, with regard to 
any of my brethren, if I venture to express a fear, that 
some allow too much of their valuable time to be 
flittered away in the perusal of miscellaneous and perio 
dical publications. These, judiciously selected, may 
afford interesting and advantageous occupation for 
hours of leisure, and intervals of relaxation from serious 
study ; but on these the student should not think 
himself authorised to enter, till by hours of application 
he has entitled himself to moments of leisure. Incal 
culable and irretrievable will be the loss he will sustain, 
if he allow his mornings and his evenings to be ex- 
pended in the perusal of light and ephemeral productions, 
By no means would I discourage an attention, duly 
limited and regulated, to the various departments of 

* See the Rev. C. Bridges on the Christian Ministry — an admirable 
work, to which the Author of these Hints gratefully acknowledges 
himself to have been repeatedly indebted in preparing foT the- press the 
present enlarged edition, 



56 



polite literature. From works of taste and imagination, 
carefully selected, the mind may reap not delight only 
but improvement. Poetry, eloquence, and criticism 
have their claims as well as their attractions ; but 
let the student yield to their attractions only in propor- 
tion to their claims, and let their claims be submitted to 
the decision of an enlightened judgment and a con- 
science feelingly alive. 

The JirM object which claims the attention of a stu- 
dent and a minister, in his course of reading, is the 
study of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. What- 
ever may be the limits within which multiplied engage- 
ments may require this to be contracted, let it be a part 
of the business of every day. In your academic ef- 
forts, it may be presumed, you have at least conquered 
the most formidable difficulties in the acquisition of 
these languages. How much to be lamented would if 
be, should you suspend your application, just at the 
point at which you were about to receive the recom- 
pense of your toilsome initiation. If you make no 
farther progress, your past labour will be productive of 
but little advantage ; and if you neglect the frequent 
and habitual reading of the Scriptures in the original 
you will lose much of that which you have already 
acquired. Surely you ought not to be satisfied with- 
out attaining a facility in reading flie Hebrew Bible 
and the Greek Testament — such a facility as will 
remove all temptations to neglect the study — as will 
render it easy to avail yourselves of the critical labours 
of others— as will authorize yoxi to place some coiifi- 



57 

dence in your own opinion on points on which critics 
and commentators disagree— and will render the 
perusal of the Scriptures in the original sufficiently 
easy, to be adopted with advantage for the purposes of 
devotional improvement. 

A second course of reading on which I would lay 
stress, is one of which the leading object should be the 
extension of those branches of knowledge, for which 
a demand is chiefly made in the exercise of your 
official f mictions. 

If the senator should be well versed in the history 
of his country, its constitution, and the sources of 
national prosperity ; if the lawyer should be intimately 
conversant with the system of jurisprudence and the 
enactments of the legislature ; if the physician should 
be well skilled in the knowledge of diseases and the 
remedies which they require ; surely a minister of 
religion should be equally solicitous to attain an ex- 
tensive and accurate acquaintance with that system of 
truth which it is the business of his life to teach and 
to inculcate. On a great variety of subjects his know- 
ledge must of necessity be superficial ; but on those in 
which he undertakes to appear in the character of a 
public instructor, his knowledge should be accurate, if 
not profound. With this view, the energy of his mind 
should be directed to the study of the volume of reve- 
lation; nor can he be deemed excusable unless he 
avail himself, to the full extent of his means and 
opportunities, of those aids which are so abundantly 
supplied; both by ancient and modern writers, A 



58 



specification of the works which especially merit 
attention falls not within the compass of my present 
design. Suffice it to say, that those which are of 
principal importance may be included under the heads 
of Biblical Criticism — Theology, Polemical and Practi- 
cal — Jewish Antiquities and Ecclesiastical History. 

From the study of Ecclesiastical History, observes 
Dr. Dwight, the Theological student will derive advan- 
tages similar to those which the statsesman derives 
from civil histoiy. "He will learn what the church has 
been; why it has thus been ; and how in many respects 
it may be rendered better and happier." — It need only 
be added, says Mr. Bridges, "that Mosheim will furnish 
the requisite information respecting the visible church, 
and Milner respecting the real church." 

To this course of reading may be added, with great 
advantage, the study of the Human Mind, in reference 
to which I adduce with cordial approbation the words 
of an anonymous writer : — 

" As we conceive that no science can be of more im- 
portance to the preacher, so we are apt to think that no 
science is more commonly neglected ; and hence it arises, 
on the one hand, that the class of men, who by their con- 
tinued professional scrutiny of the minds of others might 
be expected to throw most light upon this department of 
science, are very small contributors to it ; and on the 
other, that if any of them are anxious for that species of 
knowledge more immediately bearing on their profession, 
they know not where to seek it. The fruits of all this 
in theology are much of the same kind as is military 



59 



men were to forswear the subject of military tactics. 
and physicians that of medicine. It is indeed difficult 
to conceive to an amount the usefulness of Sermons is 
impaired by ignorance of the human mind. We appre- 
hend that nothing in Scripture itself is more apt to 
touch and affect the heart, than what has been termed 
its 'power of divination ; 5 or in other words, that perspi- 
cacity by which it exhibits what is in the heart of the heav- 
er and reveals the man to himself. And an intimate ac- 
quaintance with the powers, habits and workings of the 
mind, would to a certain extent supply the preacher 
with a talisman of the same kind. We should stand 
before him convicted, rebuked, and condemned ; and 
often under the influence of the Holy Spirit, who delights 
to work by rational means on rational creatures should 
be led to exclaim that 'God was with him of a truth."** 

A third course of reading should be pursued with a 
view to devotional excitement^ and the cultivation of 
personal religion. 

Let it ever be remembered, that the character of the 
christian is not to be merged in the official avocations 
of the minister. A solicitous regard to the interests of 
personal piety should every day of life take the lead 
of all other concerns. Nor can it be supposed that tli6 
mind can be duly qualified for the spiritual and elevated 
duties of the christian ministry, unless the religion of 
the heart be cultivated with watchful care. In addition 

* See Critique on the Rev. Simeons-'s Horse TiTorrule.fitse, in the 
Christian Obsexver— Nov. 1B20. 



60 



to the devotional study of the Holy Scriptures, great 
advantage may be derived from the habit of allotting a 
certain limited portion of time, every day, to a course 
of reading, for the purposes of religious improvement. 
Some of the writings of the old divines may be read 
with this view, with incalculable advantage ; nor is 
any species of reading more beneficial in promoting 
at once devotional excitement and professional diligence; 
than the biography of distinguished christians, and of 
ministers eminent for piety and usefulness. I fully 
concur with Mr. Bridges in the opinion that " more 
lessons of practical detail and encouragement may be 
learnt from this branch of study than from whole 
treatises of abstract theology. Such lives as those of 
Leighton, Alleine, Philip Henry, Halyburton, Cotton 
Mather, Elliot, Brainerd, Doddridge, Martyn, Scott 
and Richmond are of the highest value and consi- 
deration. 

On the most profitable method of readings I would 
offer a few remarks. 

" Reading," observes Mr. Locke, " furnishes the 
mind only with materials of knowledge ; it is thinking 
makes what we read ours. We are of the ruminating 
kind, and it is not enough to cram ourselves with a 
great load of collections: — there are indeed in some 
writers visible instances of deep thoughts, close and 
acute reasoning, and ideas well pursued. The light 
these v would give would be of great use, if their reader 
Would observe and imitate them:— but that can he 
done only by our own meditation. 53 



61 

In the spirit of these remarks it may be observed, 
that the materials of knowledge which we obtain by 
reading, should undergo a mental process of digestion^ 
so as to be incorporated with our own ideas, and to 
augment the strength and resources of our own minds. 
In proportion as the mind thus adds to its stores of 
knowledge, instead of being burdened by its accumu- 
lations, its capacity of reception and of retention becomes 
expanded.— "New Knowledge," observes Maclaurin, 
"does not consist so much ha our having access to a 
new object, as in comparing it with others already 
known, observing its relations to them, or discerning 
what it has in common with them, and wherein their 
disparity consists ; and, therefore, our knowledge is 
vastly greater than the sum of what all its objects 
separately could afford ; and when a new object comes 
within our reach, the addition to our knowledge is the 
greater, the more we already know; so that it in- 
creases, not as the new objects increase, but in a much 
higher proportion."* 

" Read not," said Lord Bacon, " with a design to con- 
tradict and to engage in disputes, nor yet to take all 
for granted, nor to set off yourself in discourse ; but 
learn to weigh, and to use your judgment. Some 
books there are, which it is convenient just to tast^ 
others that we ought to swallow quickly, and some, but 
those are very few, that we should digest : that is, some 
bpc&s are to be looked into only in parts : others to be 

* See his View of Newton's Discoveries, 
6 



62 



read indeed, but in a cursory manner ; and some few 
to be turned over diligently and with singular attention. 
Reading gives a fund of universal knowledge ; dispu- 
tation and conference, acuteness and eloquence ; writing 
and collecting of notes, imprints what we read on the 
mind, and fixes it deep. And therefore if a man is 
careless in nothing, he had need have a good memo- 
ry : if he confers little, he should have a present wit ; 
and if he reads little, there is nothing left, but to use a 
kind of artifice, whereby he may seem to know what 
he does not." 

Some persons attach great importance to the habit 61 
keeping a common-place book, for the purpose of insert- 
ing copious extracts with which they meet in the course 
of their reading. This plan appears to me to be advisr 
able only when the passage is pre-eminently valuable, 
and the book in which it occurs is not usually accessi- 
ble. In other cases, the method appears liable to nu- 
merous and weighty objections. It requires an expen 
diture of time for which no equivalent is received, by the 
slight impression produced in the mere act of transcri- 
bing. We deceive ourselves greatly by imagining it is 
made our own, merely because it is entered in our collec- 
tanea, since it is uncertain whether we may ever read 
it again. If the book we are reading be in our own pos- 
session, it may be advantageous to mark in the margin^ 
passages which demand a second or a repeated perusal , 
and to enter in a book, alphabetically arranged, a re- 
ference to the passage, under an appropriate title. We 
should thus obtain, by degrees, a valuable index to the 



63 



most important contents of the books in our possession, 
which have obtained a careful perusal. 

I have now to suggest a few Hints of Advice in refer- 
ence to— 

III. 

> 

THE BEST METHOD OF CONDUCTING DIRECT 
PREPARATION FOR THE PULPIT. 

I. Remember the influence of devotional excitement 
on the operations of the intellect, when employed on 
spiritual subjects, and the importance of obtaining 
that Divine Aid which the Scriptures encourage us 
to expect. 

" Offer up your daily requests to God, the Father of 
lights, that he would bless all your attempts and labours 
in reading and in study. Think with yourself, how 
easily and how insensibly, by oneturn of thought, he 
can lead you into a large scene of useful ideas : he can 
teach you to lay hold on a clue which may guide your 
thoughts with safety and ease through all the difficulties 
of an intricate subject. He expects to be acknow- 
ledged in the common affairs of life, and he does as 
certainly expect it in the superior operations of the 
mind ; and in the search of knowledge and truth. — - 
Bishop Sanderson says, that study without prayer 
is atheism, as well as that prayer without study is 
presumption. Bene orasse est bene studuisse"* 

"For a man solemnly to undertake," observes Dr. 

Dr. Watts's Improvement of the Mind. 



64 



Owen the interpretation of any portionof the scripture, 

without invocation of God, to be taught and instructed 

by nis Spmt, is a high provocation of him ; nor shall I 

expect the discovery of truth from any one who thus 

proudly engages m a work so much above his ability." 

The Spmt by his unction," says Quesnel, « fa the 

great master in this science, and it is by prayer that 

webecome hisscholars. Much prayer and Lfe tud y 

advice the work of God more than abundance of 

study without prayer." 

themWsfofK^ 6 beenthe P lactic « of L^her, evenin 
the midst of his most pressing avocations, to devote three 
hours every day to direct communion with God 
it was the resolution of Dr. Cotton Mather to retire 

rlS e bv a n lea ? *"l timCS ** ^ ^ 
Wmtll * 0glapher that his mstom ™»to 

s^ijei r ixtimesintheday ' in additi - to 

tfte habit of ejaculatory aspirations which were usuallv 
repeated many times in the courseof everyhour «ft 

EESZt* from hi : fourteenth *■» -w s 

his death to keep a private fast, or a day of more than 
ordinary devotion, at least once a month, as welf as 
day. of so emu thanksgivings to God for his merl " 
1 he duties of a christian minister are spiritual duties 
and requu-e therefore spiritual and devotLltZrf 
thought and feeling. If the state of mind conSp nd 
with the character of the subjects on which inteUeTtuaf 

™^7T ed > ^-^-ntbecolrsy 
and delightful; if otherwise, it fa difficult, if not irksome 
The hours expended in the preparation 'of *£££ 



65 



the pulpit may, on these principles, be either among 
the most happy, or the most distressing, of studious life* 
Under the influence of devotional excitement, with what 
clearness, and with what beauty may an interesting 
passage of the word of God unfold its meaning to the 
eye of the mind. It becomes at once a source of spirit 
tual delight and a theme for pulpit discussion. The 
truths it inculcates or involves, present themselves in 
quick succession to the meditating mind, and seem to 
arrange themselves, without difficulty, in an order the 
most natural and correct. 

II. Study the true meaning of the word of God. 
in your daily perusal of the sacred volume, and 
yield your mind and heart to the influence of the 
truths you read, 

•" I have found it advantageous/' remarks Mr. Scotk 
u sometimes to read the Scriptures with such exact- 
ness, as to weigh every expression, as if I were about 
to preach on every verse, and then to apply the result to 
my own case, character, experience, and conduct, as if 
it had been directly addressed to me ; in short to make 
the passages into a kind of sermons, as if about to 
preach to others, and then to turn the whole applica- 
tion on myself. At other times I have read a passage 
more generally, and then selected two or three of the 
most important observations from it, and endeavoured 
to employ my mind in meditation on them, and con= 
sider how they bore on the state of my heart, or on my 
past life, or on those things which I heard or observed, 
in the world or the church, and to compare them with 

6* 



66 



the variety of sentiments, experiences, actions or 
prominent characters, with which we become gradually 
more and more acquainted." He who sets out on this 
plan, proves that he has already "the beginning of 
wisdom," and that he is on his way towards no ordinary 
attainments. 

"Nothing sanctifies and saves but truth. The 
Holy Bible is the only storehouse of religious doctrine. 
An implicit and silent submission of the whole soul oi 
a minister to the revealed will of the eternal and in- 
comprehensible God, is indispensable to any enlarged 
success. Inspired men spake as they were moved by 
the Holy Ghost — handed down to a lost world all the 
Revelation which Infinite Wisdom saw needful and 
best, and in the manner and form which was most 
suitable to the designs of God and the state of man — - 
delivered to the church unmixed, and absolutely pure 
truth, without any defect, any omission, any superfluity, 
any exaggeration, any mistake— leaving us the stan- 
dard of all doctrine, the rule of all practice, the example 
of all holiness Such is the Bible — the interpretation 
of which, and the application to the cases of men, is 
left as a solemn trust with the stewards of Christ's 
mysteries. Brethren, a revival of religion must spring 
from a revival of the authority of the Bible, a revival 
of the unlimited sovereignty of the Inspired Book, 
in overruling all the errors of men, in swaying every 
heart, in governing and curbing every imagination, in 
deciding every controversy, in being itself the element 
and matter of all our instructions in public and private 



67 



The Divine medicine must not be adulterated and 
weakened by the admixtures of man ; or our maladies 
will never be cured. The cup of salvation: must not 
be corrupted with 'the wine of Sodom, and the grapes? 
of Gomorrah ;' or the wounds of men will remain 
unhealed. We must return to our Bibles.* 7 ' 

III. Endeavour to connect Mental Improvement 
dnd Acquisitions of Knowledge with your ordinary 
preparations for the Pulpit. 

The young preacher should by no means think it 
sufficient, to make that preparation for his appearance 
in the pulpit, which he supposes will be deemed ade 
quate and respectable, by those who attend on his 
ministry. To satisfy himself should be with him an 
object of much more difficult attainment, under oidi 
nary circumstances, than to satisfy his hearers ; and 
he should not allow himself to be satisfied, unless he 
has so conducted his preparation of discourses, as to 
have made some addition to his store of valuable ideas,, 
or at least to have made some progress in the cultiva 
lion of useful habits of thought and of expression. 

There are several plans by which this improvement 
may be secured ; some of which 1 will suggest. — 

(1.) Pursue, when opportunity occurs, those inquiv 
ries which may incidentally arise out of the texts or 
the subjects which you are studying, with a view to 
public discourses. 

* $ee the Rev. Darne] Wilson's Introductory Esl&My to "itie 
Reformed Pastor." * 



68 



Let not a spirit of indolence restrict your inquiries on 
any important points, because you are aware that no 
reference to such points is necessary in the discourse 
you may be preparing. Those points may have an 
important bearing on a variety of subjects, and the in- 
vestigation may tend to enrich your mind by the ad- 
dition of important knowledge, or at least to preserve 
you from injurious prejudices and mistakes. Much, 
very much, I conceive, of the knowledge by whick su- 
perior minds are distinguished has been accumulated 
by the habit now recommended. Scarcely has any 
subject, especially in their earlier studies, employed 
their thoughts, without prompting some inquiries on 
points, on which they were impatient to acquire more 
correct or more extensive information. Had not those 
wishes excited them to embrace the earliest opportuni- 
ties of investigation, that knowledge would probably 
never have been attained. With a view to the practi- 
cability of this extended and liberal plan of studying 
discourses for the pulpit, as well as for other reasons 
afterwards to be considered, it is of great importance to 
allow, for such preparations, time sufficiently ample to 
prevent the necessity of eager and inconsiderate haste, 
with the entire omission and neglect of all inquiries 
not absolutely essential to the composition of the propo 
sed discourse. 

(2.) Consult the best authors to whose icorks you 
have access , who have ivritten on the subject which 
you propose to discuss. 

It is indeed advisable previously to your having re- 



69 



course to the wealth of other minds, to make a vigorous 
demand upon the stores of your own mind ; but 
having done this, you may with great advantage have 
recourse to the productions of men of superior intellect 
and attainments. This method is by no means to be 
adopted, with a view to suspend or to diminish your 
own intellectual labour, but, on the contrary, to secure 
several important advantages which I will specify : — 
It will give excitement to the mind, and rouse it to 
a state of higher energy and activity. — It will present 
ample materials for thought and reflection ; and should 
the mind fix, with a vigorous grasp, only on some one 
interesting thought, that single idea may be the first 
of a train, which will give a character and a value to 
the whole discourse. — It will give additional amplitude, 
richness, and vividness to many of the illustrations 
which your own mind might have suggested in part, 
but with much less power of exciting interest and 
impression : it will also serve to give additional confi- 
dence in the expression of your own opinion. 

(3.) Be not satisfied with selecting detached texts 
and miscellaneous subjects, hut, in addition to these, 
enter on a course of expository lectures, and a series 
of connected discourses. 

The method now recommended will be at once 
instructive to the hearers, and highly conducive to the 
improvement of the preacher. It will prevent the 
wearisome and fruitless expenditure of time in search- 
ing after subjects of discourse — it will supply many 
interesting topics which might $ot otherwise engage 



70 



the attention— it will habituate the mind of the minis- 
ter of truth, to investigate with diligence the exact 
meaning of every part of Scripture which he under- 
takes to interpret — and it will stimulate most powerfully 
to vigorous thought, extensive reading, and biblical 
researches, 

It is possible that some preachers may hesitate to^adopt 
the plans now recommended, from the fear of their 
proving unpopular, and failing to excite sufficient 
interest. Let the inquiry then be made,* — Have they 
tried the experiment ? Have they pursued the plan 
with the spirit and the application it requires ? Have 
they adopted a judicious Selection of subjects ? -In 
expounding the Scriptures, have they made choice of 
such books or chapters, as were best adapted to their 
own mental resources and to the circumstances of their 
hearers ? Have they been sufficiently anxious to 
combine instruction with impression ; and while they 
endeavoured to convey knowledge to the understanding 
has it been also their assiduous attempt to awaken the 
conscience and to affect the heart? If these objects 
are kept in view in the conduct of expository lec- 
tures, and the discussion of connected subjects, the 
interest excited in the minds of the hearers, instead 
of being diminished, will be most sensibly augmented, 
(4.) Let the subjects and the texts intended for the 
discourses of the succeeding Sabbath be selected early 
in the week, 

I envy not the preacher who can allow day after day 
in the early part of the week to glide away, without any 
solicitude to determine on what subjects he shall address 



71 



Liis auditory on the approaching Sabbath. Can he secure 
at the end of the week all that leisure on which he cal- 
culates—all that freedom from intrusion and interruption 
requisite to tranquil continuity of thought ? Is it certain 
that he will experience no perplexity or embarrassment 
in effecting a choice when a choice can no longer be de- 
layed? Is he wise in deferring his effort to select a subject 
till that period of the week, when all the time that re 
mains is scarely sufficient for the requisite inquiries and 
reflections, even were the choice already determin- 
ed? Is he consulting the approbation of his own 
mind, or the approbation of Him in whose service he 
is engaged, or the good of those whose edification he is 
anxious to promote ? Is he not negligently unmindful 
of the benefit he might derive, during the course of the 
week, from those thoughts and feelings which, even 
without any direct exertion, might almost spontaneously 
occur to his mind, and become intimately associated 
with the subject on which he is to preach, were the 
selection of that subject to precede, by due interval, the 
period of direct preparation 2 

IV. Let not undue importance be attached to arti 
filial rules for the composition of Sermons. 

I would not discourage the perusal of such produc- 
tions as the celebrated Essay by Claude, on the com 
position of a Sermon, but I will take the liberty of 
saying, that I attach to such aids only a subordinate 
degree of importance. An able translator of that Essay 
states in his Preface, that he was induced to publish it 
lc for the use of those studious Ministers in our Pro? 



72 



testant Dissenting churches, who have not enjoyed the 
advantage of a regular academical education." The 
remark obviously implies, that, in his opinion, the rules 
and advices which that Essay contains are of much less 
importance to those who have enjoyed such advantages ; 
and I cannot but be of opinion, that they whose minds 
have been disciplined by a course of liberal studies, will 
derive far more assistance from the guidance of gene- 
ral principles than from any specific or artificial rules. 

Almost all the exercises of intellect which a judicious 
plan of education prescribes, have a tendency to train 
the mind to those habits of thought which dictate a na- 
tural, and therefore a logical method of unfolding and 
arranging our ideas, so as to put our hearers, by a me- 
thod the most direct, into full possession of our senti- 
ments. Whatever then is adapted to induce these im 
portant habits of thought, tends, by a most beneficial 
influence, to supersede the necessity of artificial aid, 
and at the same time to secure the additional advan- 
tage of leaving the mind free from those fetters and 
trammels which the rules of art too frequently impose. 

In the composition of Sermons the exercise of a dis* 
criminating judgment is requisite, not only in the for- 
mation, but also in the exhibition of the plan of ar- 
rangement. If the general outline be not explicitly 
stated, the hearer remains without any pledge, for the 
judicious selection, or orderly distribution, of the materi- 
als of thought which belong to the subject, and without 
that excitement to fixed attention, and that aid in his 
effbrts to recollect the train of thought, which the prgapjf- 



73 

er should not fail to afford. On the other hand, if the 
arrangement be too formal, or the plan too fully disclo- 
sed, other evils are incurred. An exposure of these 
may be given, with the greatest effect, in the words of 
a master of pulpit eloquence, whose discourses exhibit 
the most finished models of correct thought, elevated 
sentiment, and elegant composition which our language 
contains : — 

" In the mode of conducting our public ministrations 
we are, perhaps, too formal and mechanical; in the distri- 
bution of the matter of our Sermons, we indulge too 
little variety, and, exposing our plan in all its parts, 
abate the edge of curiosity, by enabling the hearer to 
anticipate what we intend to advance. Why should 
that force which surprise gives to every emotion, derived 
from just and affecting sentiments, be banished from 
the pulpit, when it is found of such moment in every 
other kind of public address ? — Method, we are aware # 
is an essential ingredient in every discourse designed 
for the instruction of mankind, but it ought never to 
force itself on the attention as an object apart ; never 
appear to be an end, instead of an instrument; or 
beget a suspicion of the sentiments being introduced 
for the sake of the method, not the method for the 
sentiments."* 

V. Endeavour to ascertain and to exhibit the 
leading sentiment intended to be conveyed by the 

* Sermons on the Discouragements and Supports of the Christian 
Minister, by the Rev. Robert Hall. 

7 



74 



text you have selected, and let that leading senti* 
ment dictate the spirit and plan of the discourse. 

It is only by this method of studying discourses, 
that an enlightened preacher can satisfy the demands 
either of his judgment or of his conscience, or meet the 
just expectation of those hearers, who are anxious to 
make progress in the knowledge of the Scriptures. 
It is by this method that the preacher will best secure 
unity of design in every discourse, and a suitable va- 
riety in his plans of arrangement. That variety will 
naturally grow out of the habit of yielding his mind to 
the impression, which the prominent idea of a text is 
calculated to produce : a diversity of method, without 
any direct effort to attain it, will then almost follow, of 
course, from a variety in the texts and subjects them- 
selves. 

By adopting this mode of constructing Sermons, the 
preacher will be effectually on his guard against the 
very prevalent evil, to which it might have been pre- 
sumed only minds of an inferior order would be exposed : 
™it is the plan of dividing texts, not on principles of 
logical analysis, but of verbal dissection. Without any 
apparent solicitude to fix on the point which is of primary 
importance, preachers of this class distribute the words 
rather than the sentiments under distinct heads, and 
frequently amplify very subordinate points at which 
the text merely glances, with as great a latitude of 
illustration as the topic which is of primary importance. 
The sentiment which the discourse ought chiefly to 
itnpress itpon the mind receives but very transient and 



75 



superficial notice, and the attention, so far from being 
concentrated upon the main point which the inspired 
writer had in view, is distracted by a variety of topics 
irrelevant, or at least subordinate. 

VI. In the study and in the delivery of your 
Sermons, let it be your first and chief solicitude 
to regard the thought rather than the language. 

It is of great importance that the language we 
employ should be an adequate and appropriate vehicle of 
thought, but the primary object of anxiety should be, 
that we may have ideas worthy of conveyance. No 
laboured embellishments of style can compensate for 
poverty of thought : nor will the act of communication 
be usually difficult, if the ideas possess an intrinsic value. 
But if we introduce to the attention of the hearer no sen- 
timents or thcughts worthy of his regard, or adapted to 
keep alive a feeling of interest in his mind, he will 
inevitably become weary and listless. If we present to 
him no materials for the operations of thinking to 
which he attaches any value, we shall appear to him to 
have forfeited all claim on his attention. He will com- 
plain that we " afford neither exercise to his reason nor 
entertainment to his fancy." Now in order to give 
real value to a discourse, and a fitness to accomplish 
the object proposed, we should be anxious to secure 
three points :— — There should be a clear elucidation or 
enforcement of some scriptural truth — there should be 
in every part of the discourse continuity of thought — and 
there should be in the structure of the whole, an adap- 
tation to produce impression and effect. 



76 



VII. Aim chiefly at those qualities of style which 
are calculated to secure the great ends of discourses 
jrom the pulpit. 

The first object of a speaker or writer should be to 
study perspicuity of expression. " Whatever," observes 
Dr. Campbellj "be the ultimate intention of the orator, 
to inform, to convince, to please, to move, or to per- 
suade, still he must speak so as to be understood, or he 
speaks to no purpose. If he do not purpose to convey 
certain sentiments into the minds of his hearers, by the 
aid of signs intelligible to them, he may as well declaim 
before them in an unknown tongue. Perspicuity, being 
to the understanding what light is to the eye, ought to 
be diffused over the whole performance.— By perspicuity ; 
as Gluintilian justly observes, care is to be taken not that 
the hearer may understand, if he will; but that he must 
understand, whether he will or not."* "It may be 
worth remarking," observes Dr. Whately, "that to those 
who wish to be understood by the lower orders, one of 
the best principles of selection is to prefer terms of Saxon 
origin to those derived from the Latin. There is a 
remarkable scope for such a choice, from the multitude 
of synonymes derived, respectively, from those two 
sources. The compilers of the Liturgy, being anxious 
to reach the understanding of all classes, availed them- 
selves of this circumstance in employing many synony- 
mous expressions, of the description just alluded to. 

*" Non ut intelligere possit, sed ne omnino possit non intelllgere 
curaftxdum. 35 — InstU. lib. viii. cap. % 



77 

Take as instances : acknowledge and confess ; dissem- 
ble and cloak ; humble and lowly : assemble and meet 
together." 

If the first object of the preacher's solicitude be, that 
his idea should have free entrance into the intellect of 
his hearers, his next concern should be that they should 
obtain an avenue to the heart. A style distinguished 
by vigour and energy is with this view greatly to be 
desired. In aiming at energy of style it is necessary to 
guard against the extremes both of conciseness and of 
prolixity. "It It obvious," says Dr. Whately, "that- 
extreme conciseness is ill suited to hearers whose intel- 
lectual powers and cultivation are small ; the usual 
expedient, however, of employing a prolix style, by way 
of accommodation to such minds, is seldom success* 
ful. — They are likely to be bewildered by tedious expan- 
sion, and being unable to maintain a steady attention to 
what is said, they forget part of what they have heard 
before the whole is completed. Add to which, that the 
feebleness produced by excessive dilution Avill occasion 
the attention to languish ; and what is imperfectly attend- 
ed to, however clear in itself, will usually be but imperfectly 
understood. — Young writers and speakers are apt to fall 
into a style of pompous verbosity, from an idea that they 
are adding both perspicuity and force to what is said, 
when they are only incumbering the sense with a need- 
less load of words. It is not indeed uncommon to hear 
a speaker of this class mentioned as having a 'very fine 
command of language,' when perhaps it might be said 
'-with more correctness, that ' his language has a com- 

7* 



78 



mand of him,' that is, that he follows a train of Words 
rather than of thought." 

"He who is studious of energetic brevity, should aim 
at what may be ealled a suggestive style ; such, that 
is, as, without making a distinct mention of a multi- 
tude of particulars, shall put the hearer's mind into 
the same train of thought as the speaker 's, and sug- 
gest to him more than is actually expressed." 

# The praises which have been bestowed tipon 
copiousness of diction, have probably tended to mislead 
authors into a cumbrous verbosity. It should be re- 
membered that there is no real copiousness in a multi- 
tude of synonymes and circumlocutions. A house 
would not be the better furnished for being stored with 
ten times as many of the same kinds of articles as were 
needed, while destitute of those required for other pur- 
poses. The completeness of a library does not consist 
in the number of volumes, especially if many of them 
are duplicates ; but in its containing copies of all the 
most valuable works. And in like manner, true copi- 
ousness of language consists in having at command a 
suitable expression for each different modification of 
thought. This will often save much circumlocution ; 
so that the geater our command of language, the more 
concisely we shall be able to write." 

Energy of style is always to be preferred by the 
preacher to elegance. He should uniformly address 
his hearers, u not as if he wanted to say something \ 
but as if he had something to say ; as if there was 
something in his mind which he was desirous of com- 



79 



municating to his hearers." — " Any expression indeed 
that is vulgar, in bad taste, and unsuitable to the dignity 
of the subject or of the occasion, is to be avoided ; since, 
though it might have, with some hearers, an energetic 
effect, this would be more than counterbalanced by the 
disgust produced in others." 

VIII. Cultivate , during the early years of y out 
ministry, the habit of ivriting some of your dis 
courses, loith due regard to the composition. 

This is desirable not only with a view to improve- 
ment in style, but also to improvement in the power of 
thought. Such is the connexion between thinking and 
expressing thought, that to attempt the latter is one of 
the most effectual methods to excel in the former, 
Frequent composition has a powerful tendency to secure 
clearness in our conceptions, as well as precision in our 
language, and at once to promote fulness of illustration 
and compression of style. It will be the most effectual 
preservative from that loose and tedious style of expres- 
sion, by which some speakers employ a profusion of 
words to convey a very few thoughts, and exhaust the 
patience of their hearers by a dull prolixity which ex- 
cludes all point, vivacity, and condensation. 

It is a just remark of Cicero, in his dialogues De Or a- 
tyre, that the habit of writing renders valuable aid even 
in extemporaneous speaking, by giving it in some 
degree the character of correct composition. He ob- 
serves also, that if the speaker, after availing himself of 
written composition in part, should then lay aside his 
notes, the remaining part of his address will continue 
to be, in great measure, of a similar character and styler 



80 

It] however ? composition for the pulpit be attempted, 
it should be the result of energetic thought and the 
strenuous application of the mind to the subject. Let 
it not be imagined, that because a sermon is written, it 
must therefore be superior to other discourses, by the 
same preacher, which have not been reduced to writing. 
A careless, hurried composition will be, in all probability, 
vapid, dull, and spiritless, and decidedly inferior, both 
in thought and language, to a sermon of which the 
outline merely was written, but of which the materials 
for illustration were selected with care, though not com- 
mitted to writing. The latter method of studying for 
the pulpit may indeed, with great advantage , be pur- 
sued conjointly with the plan of careful composition. 
And while this combination of plans of study might 
with propriety be recommended as eligible, it is in fact 
the plan to which ministers must often have recourse 
from necessity, if a demand be made upon them by 
their congregations of several discourses every week, 
By carrying on both methods, and by writing out at 
least one sermon with care every week, the young 
preacher may be making progress in the excellencies jof 
a style best adapted for the pulpit, while, in conjunction 
with this effort, he may be acquiring additional facilities 
in expressing his thoughts with fluency in unpremedi- 
tated language. 

IX. Allow not the habit of writing Sermons to 
occasion the adoption of any undesirable method of 
delivering discourses front the pulpit 



81 



If a Sermon be fairly written out at full length, then 
unquestionably the easiest way of delivery which the 
preacher can adopt, is to read it to his hearers. During 
the interval between the composition and the delivery 
of the sermon (if interval there be) the mind of the 
preacher may be perfectly free from anxiety, nor will 
the power of impression be dependent, in a considerable 
degree, upon the possession or the absence of desirable 
feelings on the part of the minister. But if in this 
respect he obtain a relief from solicitude, how costly 
is the purchase, how great the sacrifice by which he 
obtains the exemption. His countenance, his tones, 
his attitudes are more or less subjected to a species oi 
mechanical restraint, if not even laid under a paralyz- 
ing interdict. His communion of spirit with the 
auditory he addresses is rendered by far less intimate, 
and his power of awakening their sympathies and 
exciting in their minds emotions in unison with his 
own, is, by his own act and deed, immeasurably 
enfeebled. 

It is remarkable that even in a period of general 
declension in reference to morals and religion, a royal 
mandate was issued to forbid the practice of reading 
sermons. The following prohibition of King Charles 
the Second is said to be on record in the statute-book 
of the University of Cambridge. 
" To the Vice-Chancellor and Gentlemen. 

"Whereas his Majesty is informed, that the practice 
of reading sermons is generally taken up by the preach 
ers before the University, and therefore sometimes con- 



82 

tinned before himself; his Majesty has commanded 
me to signify to you his pleasure that the said practice, 
which took its beginning from the disorders of the late 
times, be wholly laid aside, and that the said preachers 
deliver their sermons, both in Latin and English, by 
memory without book, as being a way of preaching 
which his Majesty judges most agreeable to the use of 
all foreign churches, to the customs of the University 
heretofore, and to the nature and intention of that holy 
exercise. And that his Majesty's commands in these 
premises may be duly regarded and observed, his fur- 
ther pleasure is, that the names of all such ecclesiastical 
persons as shall continue the present supine and slothful 
way of preaching, be from time to time signified to me 
by the Vice-Chancellor for the time, on pain of his Majes- 
ty's displeasure. 

(Signed) " Monmouth." 

There have been, indeed, and there are individuals 
whose eloquent discourses, even when read from the 
pulpit, excite a lively feeling and produce a deep impres- 
sion. Let not, however, their example induce the young 
preacher to presume on a successful imitation. Let him 
first become their equal in eloquence, and then, and not 
till then, let him venture to imitate their mode of 
delivering their discourses. 

But if objections so strong may be urged against the 
practice of reading sermons, what opinion are we to form 
of the method of committing them to memory after they 
have been written, and reciting them in the pulpit memo- 
riter ?~There are, it is acknowledged, preachers who 



83 



can deliver their sermons, thus committed to memory, 
with so much fluency and effect, that they may be 
regarded as affording exceptions to the general remarks 
which may justly be offered on the plan itself. It was 
the decided opinion of the author of the Philosophy of 
Rhetoric, both from his own experience and the exten- 
sive observations he had made, that the plan of repeat 
ing sermons from memory is a method still more unfa 
vourable to impression than the method of reading them, 
"There is something," he justly observes, " in charging 
one's memory with a long chain of words and syllables, 
and then running on, as it were mechanically, in the 
same train, the preceding word associating and draw- 
ing in the subsequent, that seems, by taking off a 
man'6 attention from the thought to the expression, to 
render him unsusceptible of the delicate sensibility a£ 
to the thought, which is the true spring of rhetorical 
pronunciation. — As to my personal experience,*' adds 
Dr. Campbell, "I shall frankly tell you what I know 
to be the fact. I have tried both ways ; I continued 
long in the practice of repeating, and was even thought 
(if people did not very much deceive me) to succeed in 
it ; but I am absolutely certain, that I can give more 
energy, and preserve the attention of the hearers better, 
to what I read, than ever it was in my power to do to 
what I repeated." * 

This quotation, it is scarcely necessary to observe, 
after the remarks already made, is adduced, not t$ 

* See Dr. Campbell's Lectures on Pulpit Eloquejtee. Le.ct TV 



84 



represent the plan of reading sermons as eligible, but 
to show that, undesirable as it is, there may be at least 
as many considerations urged in its defence, as in favour 
of the very ineligible method of submitting, first to the 
servile drudgery of committing discourses to memory, 
and then to the agitating process of reciting them to 
the congregation. 

What then, it may be asked, is the most advisable 
method of preaching ? It is, I think, beyond a doubt; 
the method recommended long ago by the excellent 
Fenelon, in his Dialogues on Pulpit Eloquence, and 
practised, I believe, with a greater or less degree of 
studious preparation, by a very considerable number of 
the most acceptable and useful preachers of the present 
day. It is the method of writing a considerable part 
and occasionally the whole of a sermon, in the act of 
preparing to preach, and, after due reflection on the 
train of thought pursued in every part of the discourse, 
endeavouring to exhibit to the hearers the precise plan, 
the intended sentiments, and the substance of the illus 
trations, without any anxiety to adhere to the exact- 
language in which they had been expressed. If, in 
any instances, as may be naturally expected, the very 
terms and phrases occur to the mind, they are adopted ; 
if not, the thought is embodied, without hesitation, in 
^uch modes of expression as at the moment suggest 
themselves to the mind. Under these circumstances 
the mind derives full advantage from application to 
previous study, while it is perfectly unfettered by pain- 
ful efforts of memory, and fully enabled tp yield itself to 



85 

the impulses of feeling, which the subject, the occasion;. 
and a scriptural dependence on divine aid may en- 
courage. Some preachers have sufficient confidence 
in their powers of memory to retain, without any diffi- 
culty or solicitude, the exact plan of arrangement 
which they have resolved to adopt ; others, very justi- 
fiably avail themselves in the pulpit of an outline of 
their discourse, in order to guard against the least 
danger of embarrassment, from forgetting, at any 
moment, the next division of their subject to which 
they intended to proceed. 

The importance of a good delivery is obvious to all 
hearers of every class. 

The practical rule for Elocution, prescribed with 
great wisdom by Dr. Whately, is, "not only to pay no 
studied attention to the voice, but studiously to with- 
drew; the thoughts from it, and to dwell as intently as 
possible on the sense ; trusting to nature to suggest 
spontaneously the proper emphases and tones. He 
who not only feels his subject, but is exclusively absorb 
ed with that feeling, will be likely to read (and speak) 
as if he felt^it, and to communicate the impression to life 
hearers. — When the delivery is really good, the hearers 
(except any one who may deliberately set himself to 
observe and criticise) never think about it, but are 
exclusively occupied with the sense it conveys and the 
feelings it excites." — " Let the speaker study to avoid, 
as far as possible, all thoughts of self, earnestly fixing 
the mind on the matter of what is delivered. Let him 

he only intent on carrying his point, not on gaining 

8 



86 



approbation, or even avoiding censure, except with a 
view to that point. He should as it were adopt as a 
motto, the reply of Themistocles to the Spartan com- 
mander, Eurybiades, who lifted his staff to chastise the 
earnestness with which his own opinion was contro 
verted: " Strike, but hear me." 

It is said that an actor was once asked by a divine, 
K How is it that people listen with so much emotion to 
what you say, which they know to be all fictitious, 
while they hear with comparative apathy from us 
truths the most sublime and important ?" The answer 
was, " Because we deliver fiction like truth, and you 
deliver truth like fiction." 

A singular specimen of the power of true eloquence 
was given in Sheridan's speech on the Begum question, 
in the prosecution of Hastings : 

" The late Mr. Logan, well known from his literary 
efforts, and author of a most masterly defence of Mr. 
Hastings, went that day prepossessed for the accused 
and against the accuser. At the expiration of the first 
hour, he said to a friend, "all this is declamatory 
assertion without proof." — When the second was finish 
ed, "this is a most wonderful oration." — At the close 
of the third, "Mr. Hastings has acted very unjustifia- 
bly." — At the end of the fourth, " Mr. Hastings is a 
most atrocious criminal."* 

In conformity with the principles already inculcated, 
*here should be no study of graceful or appropriate 

* See Moore's Life of Sheridan, 



87 



action. Dr. Whately justly observes, that " action, if 
not perfectly unstudied, will always be intolerable. 
But if any one spontaneously falls into any gestures 
that are unbecoming, care should then be taken to 
break the habit. The case is indeed the same with 
utterance. If any one has an indistinct, hesitating, or 
otherwise faulty delivery, his natural manner cer- 
tainly is not what he should adopt in public speaking ; 
and so also with respect to attitudes and gestures. It 
is in these points principally, that the remarks of an 
intelligent friend will be beneficial. 73 



MENTAL DISCIPLINE. 



II. 

ON MORAL HABITS, 



HINTS ONTHE CULTIVATION OF THOSE MORAL HABITS 
WHICH WILL FACILITATE THE HONOURABLE AND 
SUCCESSFUL DISCHARGE OF PASTORAL DUTIES. 

I. 

Reflect much on the indispensable and transcen- 
dent Importance of Personal Religion. 

Let it be impressed upon your mind, with all the 
force and all the authority of an incontrovertible axiom^ 
that unless you are, in the sight of God, a Christian, you 
are destitute of the primary and essential qualification 
for the office of a Christian Minister. Remember, 
that personal religion has its commencement in the 
renovation of the mind and heart, by the power of the 
Spirit of God ; and forget not from whose lips proceed- 
ed the declaration — " Except a man be born again, he 
cannot see the kingdom of God. 7 ' Under the influence 



89 



of this spirit-stiiring assertion, let conscience be sum- 
moned deliberately to reply to such inquiries as these: 
— Is not my assumption of the ministerial character a 
solemn and public profession of being a Christian, and 
of believing myself to be a Christian ? Can I then 
make this decided profession, before the church and 
before the world, without any danger of hypocrisy ? 
Have I reason, on the strictest scrutiny into my own 
heart, to believe that I really am that which, virtually 
at least, I profess myself to be ? Were I to enter on 
the sacred office, destitute of real religion, should I not 
find its spiritual duties irksome, and its responsibility 
terrific? Should I not be bringing myself under ^n 
accumulation of guilt, from the distant idea of w T hich I 
may well shrink with dismay ? 

If inquiries such as these can receive a satisfactory 
reply, let it still be an object of deep and perpetual solici 
tude, to make progress in personal religion. Never let 
personal religion be merged in. that which is profes- 
sional. Let not the feelings and the habits of the Mi- 
nister induce remissness with regard to the feelings and 
habits of the Christian. Remember that in your 
individual as well as pastoral character, you must here- 
after appear before the throne of judgment ; and forget not 
in your individual, as well as in your pastoral capacity, 
habitually to appear before the throne of grace. Be 
assured, also, that a due concern for the salvation and 
prosperity of your own soul, will be the best prepara- 
tive for successful efforts, to promote the salyatien and 
prosperity of the souls of others. 

8* 



90 



The foundation of the eminent usefulness of Dr, 
Cotton Mather was laid in early life, in his entire and 
unreserved consecration to God. The following is an 
extract from the memoir published by his son. 

" Having chosen the Lord for his God and portion^ 
and given up himself to Him. according to the tenor of 
the new covenant, he judged it might be a useful means 
of strengthening upon his own heart, a sense of his en 
gagement to God, to write and subscribe an explicit co- 
venant with him ; which he therefore did, in the fol 
lowing words : 

" THE COVENANT. 

" I renounce all the vanities, and cursed idols, and 
evil courses of this world. 

" I engage, that I will ever have the great God my 
best good, my last end, and my only Lord: 

" That I will be ever rendering acknowledgments to 
the Lord Jesus Christ, in all the relations which he 
bears unto me : 

Qi That I will be ever studying what is my duty in 
these things ; and wherein I find myself to fall shorty 
I will ever make it my grief and my shame ; and for 
pardon, betake myself to the blood of the everlasting 
covenant. 

" Now humbly imploring the grace of the Mediator 
to be sufficient for me, I do, as a further solemnity, sub- 
scribe my namej with both hand and heart, unto this 
instrument* 

Vt Cotton Mathsr* 



91 



'• Having thus engaged himself to God, he laboured 
to improve his acquaintance with him, to bring his 
heart to delight in him, and his will to an entire sub= 
mission and resignation to him. For this purpose he 
formed the following resolutions :— 

" 1. I will ever mourn over the distempers of my 
own heart, which incline me to take an undue delight 
in creatures, in idols, in vanities. 

" 2. I will bless God for those afflictions, for those 
dispensations, be they ever so distressing, by which he 
is curing these disorders in me. 

'-3. I will always account myself happy in the 
favour of God, although I should have no earthly 
thing to give me any satisfaction. 

i: 4. I will reckon any opportunities for being broughi 
into converse with God, as treasures to be preferred 
above all riches. 

" 5. I will never be in any other than in a restles? 
disquiet of soul, until I find all my ends to be entirely 
swallowed up in the glory of God. 

u 6. I will relish all my enjoyments, even to my 
very meat and drink, chiefly, and if I can merely., 
under the notion of my being by them assisted in the 
knowledge, or the service of God. 

" 7. I will endeavour to be continually abounding 
in thoughts of God ; nor would I be, ordinarily, one 
quarter of an hour, wholly without them. 

" 8. It shall be my pleasure to wait upon God. in 
att the Ways of his worship, in which I may have 



92 



communion with him, especially in frequent prayers 
unto him. 

"Most glorious Lord! Thou hast offered thyself 
unto thy creatures, and often called upon them to take 
thee for their God. This, this is that which I am 
willing, I am desirous, I am resolved this day to do, 
I take thee, O Lord, to be my God, and I take thy 
glory for the end unto which I would be, and live ; I 
take the enjoyment of thee for my great and sole 
happiness ; and. which is the peculiar thing I am now 
aiming at, I take thy will to be my will. As for my 
own will, Lord, I find it blind, foolish, wicked, hurtful, 
and therefore I renounce, reject, and resign it; and 
say again, Lord, let thy will be my will. I have great 
concerns,— concerns as to this world and as to the 
future ; they are many and weighty. But, O God, : 
thou art the only wise God ; there is perfect know- 
ledge with thee ; thou art of great power, thy under 
standing is infinite ; and, in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
thou art wonderfully merciful and gracious unto them 
that draw nigh unto thee, as I do this day. Unto thy 
wisdom and goodness I commit my concerns, one and 
all. I cast all my cares upon my God. O thou most 
wise and good God, I resign all unto thee : Is it not 
thy pleasure that I should do so ? It is. And hast 
thou not pleasure in seeing me do so ? Thou hast. 
I then profess, in thy presence, all my concerns are 
put into thy hands, and left unto thy management for 
ever. And now I am inconceivably happy. ?? 



93 
XL 

Aim, with the most conscientious solicitude, at 
Purity of Motive in all your Ministerial Engage 
ments. 

Institute a scrutinizing inquiry into the motives 
which have induced you to enter on the office of the 
Christian Ministry. Was your choice determined under 
the influence of the love of literature and science, for the 
pursuit of which you promised yourself, in the ministe- 
rial office, opportunity and facility ? Can you trace 
among your leading motives a desire of professional dis- 
tinction and eminence ? Can you detect, among your 
principal inducements, a desire of elevation to greater 
emolument or higher connexions, than you had other- 
wise encouragement to anticipate ? Were you at liber- 
ty to choose a profession on merely secular principles } 
such considerations as these might naturally be expected 
to exert an influence over your mind ; but in entering 
on the Christian Ministry, you are supposed to act, and 
you are required to act on principles of higher cha- 
racter ; and it may be presumed, that you have so- 
lemnly professed to be actuated by a supreme desire 
to promote the glory of God, the honour of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and the eternal interest of your fellow- 
men. Ever, then, guard against the influence of un- 
worthy and sinister motives, in all the objects at which 
you aim, in all the arrangements you form for the prose- 
cution of your studies, and especially in all the discour- 
ses you deliver from the pulpit. 

<: The ministerial work," observes Mr. Baxter 3 (in 



94 



his Reformed Pastor,) " must be managed purely for 
God and the salvation of the people, and not for any 
private ends of our own. This is our sincerity in it. 
A wrong end makes all the work bad. It is not a 
serving God, but ourselves, if we do it not for God, but 
for ourselves. They that set upon this as a common 
work, to make a trade of it for their worldly livelihood, 
will find that they have chosen a bad trade, though a 
good employment. Hard studies, much knowledge, 
and excellent preaching, is but hypocritical sinning, if 
the ends be not right." — " The work may be God's 
and yet we may do it, not for God, but for ourselves, 
I confess I feel such continual danger on this point 
that if I did not watch, lest I should study for myself, 
and preach for myself, and write for myself, rather 
than for Christ, I should soon miscarry. Consider, I 
beseech you, brethren, what baits there are in the work 
of the ministry, to entice a man to selfishness, even in 
the highest works of piety ! The fame of a godly man 
is as great a snare as the fame of a learned man. But 
woe to him that takes up with the fame of godliness, 
instead of godliness ! c Verily I say unto you, they have 
their reward.' When the times were all for learning 
and empty formalities, the temptation of the proud did 
lie that w r ay. But now, when, through the unspeak- 
able mercy of God, the most lively practical preaching 
is in credit, and godliness itself is in credit, the tempta 
tion of the proud is to pretend to be zealous preachers 
and godly men. O what a fine thing is it to have the 
people crowding to hear us, and effected w T ith -what we 



95 



sayj and yielding up to us their judgments and affec- 
tions ! What a noble thing it is to be cried up as the 
ablest and godliest man in the country,— to be famed 
through the land for the highest spiritual excellencies ! 
O, therefore, be jealous of yourselves." 

"Blessed be God," said Mr. Henry Martyn, " I feel 
myself to be his minister. This thought, which I 
can hardly describe, came after reading Brainerd. I 
wish for no service but the service of God, in labouring 
for souls on earth, and to do his will in heaven." On 
one occasion he thus wrote in his journal :— " I felt 
very unconcerned about men's opinions before and 
after any Sermon. Before it, I could solemnly appeal 
to God, and found comfort and pleasure in doing so, 
that I desired his glory alone — that I detested the 
thought of seeking my own praise, or taking pleasure 
in hearing it." 

Let usefulness, then, — usefulness to the souls of 
men, be your grand and perpetual aim. Let your 
mind be habitually engaged in reflecting on the value 
of the human soul — the danger of perdition to which 
many of your hearers may be still exposed — the para- 
mount importance of rescuing them from impending 
ruin, and bringing them to the enjoyment of the great 
salvation ! Under the exciting and directing influence 
of such considerations as these, let your subjects be 
selected; let your discussions be pursued; let your 
thoughts be arranged ; let you style be formed ; let 
your discourses be delivered. Let those words of an 
inspired teacher dwell much upon your mind:— "Let 



96 



him know that he who converteth a sinner from the 
error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and 
shall hide a multitude of sins." 

"Faith," observes Mr. Cecil, " is the master-spring of 
a Minister. Hell is before me, and thousands of souls 
shut up there in everlasting agonies.-- Jesus Christ 
stands forth to save men from rushing into this bottom- 
less abyss. — He sends me to proclaim his ability and 
love ; I want no fourth idea ! every fourth idea is con- 
temptible ! every fourth idea is a grand impertinence/' 

III. 

Repress to the utmost, the feelings of Vanity and 
Pride, and the undue desire of popular Applause. 

H Humility," observes Mr. Cecil, "is the spirit of our 
dispensation— not a creeping servile humility, but an 
entire self-renunciation. Pride is the most universal and 
inveterate of all vices— every man is a proud man, 
though all are not equally proud. No sin harasses 
the christian so much, nor accompanies him so unweari - 
edly ; its forms of exhibiting itself are infinitely varied? 
and none are more common than the affectation of hu 
mility. Pride is the master-sin of the spirit ; and the 
grace of God, in the whole tenor of our dispensation , 
is directed against it." 

Against the ever-besetting sins of pride and vanity, 
the christian minister, and more especially the young- 
minister, should be perpetually on his guard : he is in 
danger of being tempted to pride of office, to pride of 



97 

real or imaginary talent, to pride of learning, and 
perhaps to pride of popularity and success. While in 
danger of the pride which would impel him to think 
more highly of himself than he ought to think, he is in 
danger also of the vanity which would impel him to aim 
at display, that he may excite the admiration of others, 
and receive the incense of their praise. Against these 
fearful dangers, then, let him be ever on his guard : 
let him view himself in the light in which he would be 
regarded by others, were the inward workings of pride 
and vanity distinctly apparent in their view ; and let 
him ask his own heart, whether, if he would be 
degraded in their estimation by the disclosure, he 
ought not to feel more degraded in his oiv?i, by the 
consciousness of their indulgence. Pitiably fallen from 
true dignity is he, in whose mind the elevation of 
human applause can counteract the depressing in- 
fluence of self-reproach ! But there is another and 
a stronger light, in which the christian minister is 
required to contemplate and scrutinize the principles of 
his conduct — it is " the light of His countenance who 
searcheth the heart, and knoweth what is in man, and 
requireth that whatever we do in word or deed, we 
should do in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving glory 
to God by him." 

To recommend the young minister to cherish a feel- 
ing of indifference with regard to the estimation in 
which his pulpit services are held, would indicate 
ignorance both of human nature and of Christian 

morals. — "Let everv one of us." said on Apostle*. 

9 



98 



11 please his neighbour for his good, to edification." If 
usefulness be the end at which he aims in his ministry, 
and the acceptableness of his exertions be desired, as 
a means to the accomplishment of that end, he is not 
chargeable with a dereliction of christian principle : to 
please is, to a certain degree, almost necessary in order 
to persuade. Of this the wisest of men was convinced, 
and therefore, in the review of his labours, he thus 
expresses himself: — "Because the preacher was wise, 
he gave good heed, and sought out and set in order 
many proverbs, and sought to find out acceptable 
words." 

If, however, applause be valued and pursued for its 
own sake, and for the gratification of the principle of 
self-love, it becomes positively sinful in its character, 
and highly injurious in its tendency. Under the in- 
fluence of the feelings now induced, the mind is yielded 
to the domination of vanity. This degrading vice 
never can be more offensive in the eyes of an Omnis- 
cient Observer, than when it vitiates the performances 
of the pulpit, and urges its occupant to aim at the dis- 
play of his critical acumen, his entensive research, his 
strength of reasoning, his fertility of imagination, or his 
power of graceful and impressive elocution. " If he, on 
the one hand," observes Dr. Chalmers, " enter with 
aspiring confidence into the field of argument, and 
think that he is to carry all before him, by a series of 
invincible demonstrations ; or if his people, on the other 
hand, ever ready to be set in motion by the idle im- 
pulse of novelty, or to be seduced by the glare of 



99 



human accomplishments, come in trooping multitudes 
around him, and hang on the eloquence of his lips, or 
the wisdom of his able and profound understanding, a 
more unchristian attitude cannot be conceived ; nor 
shall we venture to compute the weekly accumulation 
of guilt which may come upon the parties, when such 
a business as this is going on. How little must the 
presence of God be felt in that place, where the high 
functions of the pulpit are degraded into a stipulated ex- 
change of entertainment on the one side, and of admira- 
tion on the other : and surely it were a^sight to make 
angels weep, when a weak and vapouring mortal, sur- 
rounded by his fellow-sinners, and hastening to the 
grave and the judgment along with them, finds it a 
dearer object to his bosom, to regale his hearers by the 
exhibition of himself, than to do, in plain earnest, the 
work of his Master, and urge on the business of 
repentance and of faith, by the impressive simplicities 
of the Gospel." 

It is said of one of the ancient Fathers, that he some- 
times wept at the applause given to his sermons, 
" Would to God," said he, " they had rather gone away 
silent and thoughtful." The following confession is 1 
extracted from the diary of a valued minister lately 
deceased. " I have to observe in my mind a sinful 
anxiety to preach well, rather than a holy anxiety to 
preach usefully. I fear I rather seek my own honour 
than God's. I confess this sin ; I trust I repent of it 
from my own heart ; I hope for its forgiveness and its 
removal from my breast." — On another occasion h§ 



100 

thus wrote:— "The evening spoiled with wretched 
pride and self-complacency — a mischievous weed, deep 
rooted, which all my winter seasons have not yet killed, 

may it at length be rooted out." " Godly simplicity," 
says Mr. Bridges, "is the alchymy which converts 
every thing it touches into gold. A deficiency in talent 
may be compensated, where the paramount desire is. 
that Christ "in all things may have the pre-eminence.' 1 
" I have no wish to be a popular preacher in any sense 
but one," said Mr. Legh Richmond, "viz. a preacher 
to the hearts of the people. 77 

It appears from the diary of Dr. Cotton Mather, 
that in the very commencement of his ministry, he was 
aware of the insidious nature and extreme sinfulness 
of pride. " I therefore resolved," said he, " that I 
would set apart a day to humble myself before God for 
the pride of my own heart, and to supplicate his grace 
to deliver me from that sin, and from the dreadful 
wrath it would expose me to. I did so : and on this 
day I examined myself by those marks of pride, which 

1 found in some judicious discourses on that subject ; 
and I saw reason to fear, that I had been guilty of this 
sin, more especially in these two respects : 1st, By ap- 
plauding mysjelfin my own thoughts, as when I had 
either prayed or preached with enlargement, or answer- 
ed a question readily and suitably : and 2dly, By an 
ambitious affectation of pre-eminence above what could 
reasonably belong to my age or worth, and above other 
persons who were far more deserving than myself. I 



101 

endeavoured, therefore, to humble my heart with the 
following considerations : — 

"1. What is pride, but the very image of Satan on 
the soul ? The more any man has of Christ in him, the 
more humble will he be, the more low and vile in his 
own eyes, and the more empty of himself. When God 
renews his image in us, he pulls down our proud 
thoughts. 'Tis true, pride is a natural sin ; but grace 
will subdue it. Alas, then, how little grace have I ! 
How unlike am I to Him who could say, 1 1 am lowly. 1 
Let me for this cause c abhor myself in dust and ashes. 2 

u 2. Do I not by pride offend God ? Pride is a breach 
of his holy command, and he has often declared his ab- 
horrence of it. His Holy Spirit is grieved by it : and 
how earnestly does the Scripture caution me against all 
approaches to it ! Shall I bear to think of offending that 
God, who has been a Father to me, and whom I have 
chosen and vowed to love and serve, as my God and 
Father ; or that Spirit, upon whose influences my soul 
lives, and by whom I am ' sealed unto the day of re- 
demption V • 

" 3. Is not my pride most unreasonable folly and 
madness? For have I any just occasion of i glorying 
in myself? 5 What have I done that is singularly ex- 
cellent ? Am not I, in most attainments, exceeded bj r 
most of my calling and standing ? And eh, have not 
1 a corrupt nature in me ? And hath not the Lord 
heretofore left me to commit some follies, the r^env 
brance of which should make me go softly all'lliy days? 

" 4. How dangerous, how destructive an evil is this 
9* 



102 

pride ! How does it provoke the God of heaven to 
take away from me every one of those idols, which in my 
fond pride I dote upon ! And if the Lord should deprive 
me of my capacities and opportunities, into what a 
horrible pit of sorrow and miseries should I then fall ! 
And let me remember that pride will, sooner than any 
thing, drive away the good Spirit of God from the 
heart of a poor creature : and if that should be my 
fate, c O Lord ! what a monument shall I be of thy 
direful vengeance !' O that the Lord would set home 
these thoughts for my humiliation ! 

" But what shall I do for the cure of this disease ? 

" In the first and chief place, I would carry my 
distempered heart unto the Lord Jesus Christ, and put 
it into the hands of that all-sufficient Physician, that 
he may cure it. 

" Secondly, I would be daily watchful against my 
pride. I would continually keep an eye upon my 
heart, and check the least beginnings and first emotions 
of this coiTuption. 

, " Thirdly, I would study much the nature, the 
work, and the aggiavations of this evil, and the excel- 
lency of the grace that is contrary to it." 

IV. 

Let the grand points in Religion have their, due 
prG$q*£^ic0n your Discourses. 

In Mn wg &nd combining the materials of your 
discourses^ there are three questions which it appears 



103 

reasonable to ask; and the correct answers to these 
inquiries will clearly prescribe the course to be pursued. 
The first question is — What are the things of pri- 
mary importance to my hearers? — in other words, 
What are the things which it is essential to know and 
believe and feel, in order to eternal salvation ? This 
question is decided by the Lord Jesus Christ himself, 
who thus addressed his heavenly Father; "This is 
life eternal, to know thee, the only true God, and Jesus 
Christ, whom thou hast sent." Then whatever may 
be omitted in discourses from the pulpit, there must be 
no omission of the doctrine of " Christ crucified." It 
is the Grand essential ; it is the indispensable requisite. 
" If we can but teach Christ to our people," says Mr. 
Baxter, "we teach them all. We must have our 
people's necessities in our eyes. Other things are 
desirable, but these must be known, or else our people 
are undone for ever. I confess necessity has been the 
conductor of my studies and life. It chooses the book 
I shall read, and tells when, and how long. It chooses 
my text, and makes my sermon.— "We must seize 

THE MAIN, COMMANDING TRUTHS OP SCRIPTURE, 

as the Apostles have summed them up. The inspired 
penmen have told us that Christ, the power op 
God and the wisdom of God, is the centre and 
corner stone of Revelation. The glory of Christ, 
then, and the work of that Holy Spirit, whom he has 
left with us as his representative, and the great teacher 
of the Church — these are the governing points, around 
which all other truths are arranged, and to which they 



104 

are subordinate. If the minister does not seize this 
commanding discovery, in vain will he languish about 
other matters. If he once be brought, by personal 
contrition and faith, to receive Christ Jesus the Lord, 
and to rejoice in him, he will soon find that he is possess- 
ed of the key to all the Bible, that he has discovered 
the pearl of unknown price, that he is enriched with 
unsearchable treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 
This doctrine of Christ, however, is not the mere 
repetition of the term, Christ ; it embraces of course 
all those truths, which prepare the hearts of men for 
receiving him, and which teach them how to walk in 
him, and adorn his Gospel.-— But still the prominent 
figure in our representations of Christianity must be 
Christ himself, in all his attributes and grace. A revi- 
ved Christianity is a revived exhibition of the glorious 
person of Christ."* 

A second question is — What am I required by my 
divine Master, to make the prevailing and characteristic 
topics of my ministry ? I obtain a satisfactory answer 
to this inquiry, from the declaration and the example 
of the greatest of human teachers, under the influence 
of direct inspiration. " I determined not to know (to 
make known) any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, 
and him crucified^ — We preach Christ crucified, unto 
the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks fool- 
ishness : but unto them who are called, both Jews and 
Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of 

* See Introductory Essays to Baxter's Reformed Pastor, by the 
Bey. Daniel Wilson:, 

J 



105 

God:' Are there not many preachers, well affected 
apparently to evangelical doctrine, who fall very far 
short of that style of preaching Christ which the apostle 
Paul adopted and enforced ? They preach Christ oc- 
casionally, and, in their own opinion, as often as the 
topic of discussion leads to Christ ; but not unfrequently 
they find it difficult to trace the bearing of the subject 
on the character or work of Christ. The apostle Paul 
would in every instance, have traced it, with ease and 
gracefulness and effect. 

A third question is — What is the description of preach- 
ing, which, in point of fact, proves most efficient ? 
And in pursuing this inquiry, I am led precisely to the 
same result as in obtaining replies to the two former 
questions. To whatever period of the history of the 
church I direct my inquiries ; or to whatever denomina- 
tion of christians, or to whatever order of preachers, in 
point of talents or learning — I find that ministry to be 
most efficient, and indeed, that ministry alone to be 
efficient, in which the doctrine of the Cross of Christ 
obtains the same prominence, with which it was ex- 
hibited in the preaching of the apostles themselves. 
Such is the important fact ; nor is it difficult, on the 
principles of the New Testament, to account for the 
fact. The ministry of the gospel owes its efficiency to 
the superadded influence of the Spirit of God. Now of 
the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, when giving to the disciples 
the promise of his influence, " He shall glorify me." 
The Holy Spirit then glorifies the Saviour, by honour- 
ing with efficiency and success the ministry which 



106 

honours Christ. Inefficient, as it regards the grand 
results of the christian ministry, because unaccompanied 
by the power of the Spirit of God. will that preaching 
be, which fails to honour Christ in his personal dignity, 
his glorious atonement, and his supreme authority. 
With the accompaniment of distinguished talent, it 
may in some few instances attract a numerous and 
applauding auditory ; but it will bring no glory to God 5 
no honour to Christ, no souls to heaven ! 

"Let there be no extremes," said Mr. Cecil ; " yet I 
am arrived at this conviction ; — Men who lean toward 
the extreme of evangelical privileges in their ministry, 
do much more to the conversion of their hearers, than 
they do who lean toward the extreme of requirement. 
And my own experience confirms my observation. I 
feel myself repelled if any thing chills, loads, or urges 
me. This is my nature, and I see it to be very much 
the nature of other men. But let me hear, c Son of 
man, thou hast played the harlot with many lovers ; 
yet return again to me, saith the Lord' — -1 am melted 
and subdued." 



Aim, in preaching, at the utmost Seriousness and 
Earnestness of Manner. 

Language is at best but a partial and imperfect 
vehicle of thought and feeling. It does not, in every 
instance, excite in the mind of the hearer the exact 
ideas, much less the entire impression, which it is the 



object of the speaker to convey. It is exceedingly de- 
sirable that the effect should be aided and heightened 
by additional indications of fervid, benignant, and im- 
passioned feelings on the part of the speaker. If the 
subject be of the most momentous nature ; if the future 
and eternal interests of the hearer be represented as 
involved in the reception or rejection of the truth an- 
nounced ; it is natural and reasonable to expect from 
the preacher, no slight manifestation of earnestness in 
the expression of his countenance, and the tones of his 
voice. If this expectation be disappointed, there is a 
want of accordance and of congruity between the im- 
port of his words and the import of his delivery ; he 
has no natural language to deepen the impression of 
his artificial language. The hearer feels at liberty to 
entertain a doubt, whether the preacher himself be the 
subject of such emotions as correspond with the words 
he employs, and even whether the preacher himself be 
fully convinced of their truth and importance : or, at 
least, he may derive from such apparent coldness and 
indifference an excuse for the listlessness and the torpor 
of his own mind. 

u How few," exclaims the fervid Baxter, "speak about 
everlasting joy or torment, in such a manner as to make 
men believe that they are in good earnest. Alas ! we 
speak so drowsily, that sleepy sinners cannot hear ! The 
blow falls so light, that the hard-hearted cannot feel ! O 
how earnestly should we deliver a message of such a 
nature as ours, in which is concerned the everlasting 
life or death of those we address ! Methinks we &re in 



108 

no respect so deficient as in this seriousness. In the 
name of God, brethren, labour to awaken your hearts, 
that you may be prepared to awaken the hearts of 
sinners/ Remember, if you give the holy things of 
God the highest praises in words, and yet do it coldly, 
you will seem in the manner, to unsay what you said in 
the matter. It is a kind of contempt of things so great, 
to speak of them without great affection and fervency. 
The manner, as well as the words, must set them forth. 
If we are commanded, whatever our hand findeth to do. 
to do it with all our might ; then, certainly, such should 
be our efforts, in preaching for men's salvation. Though 
I do not commend a constant loudness in your deli- 
very, yet I would enforce a constant seriousness. 
Whatever you do, let the people see that you are in 
good earnest. I seldom come out of the pulpit," (and 
this is, be it remembered, the confession of a holy man, 
of exemplary fervour,) "but my conscience smites me, 
that I have been no more serious and earnest. It 
accuses me not so much for want of elegance, or 
human ornaments ; or for letting fall an unhandsome 
word : but it asks me, — How couldst thou speak of 
everlasting life and death with such a heart ? How 
couldst thou preach of heaven and hell in so careless 
and Lsleepy a manner ? Dost thou believe what thou 
sayest ? Art thou in earnest or in jest ? How canst 
thou tell people, that sin is so evil, and that its 
consequences are so dreadful, without being more af- 
fected by it ? Shouldst thou not weep over sinners, 
even till thy tears interrupt thy words,— cry aloud, and 



109 

shew them their transgressions,— entreat them to 
repent and believe, with the utmost importunity 7— 
I know not what it doth by others, but the most re- 
verential preacher, who speaks as if he saw the face of 
God, doth more affect my heart, though with common 
words, than an irreverent man with the most exquisite 
preparations. Yea, if he bawl it out with never so much 
seeming earnestness, if reverence be not answerable to 
fervency, it worketh but little. — We should, as it were, 
suppose we saw the throne of God, and the millions of 
glorious angels attending him, that we might be awed 
with his majesty when we draw near him in his holy 
things. 7 ' 

VI 

Let a deep sense of responsibility ', at the Divine 
Tribunal, secure Ministerial Fidelity. 

Certain it is, that we must all appear before the judg- 
ment-seat of Christ, and there render an account of 
the manner and the motives which shall have charac- 
terized the discharge of our ministry. We are charged 
to preserve inviolate, and to exhibit, without the least 
reservation, the whole counsel of God. Let then the 
exhibition of divine truth be made, to every class of 
our hearers, with the utmost explicitness, fulness, and 
fearlessness. Uninfluenced by any regard to the 
favour or the frown of men, let us only be solicitous to 
commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the 
sight of God, that we may be pure from the blood of 
all men. " There is a most awful trust (observes Dr. 

10 



110 

Mason) committed by the Lord Jesus to his ministering 
servants. Oh that they felt this trust more than they 
sometimes do ! You would not see the pulpit converted 
into a stage for the display of human ingenuity, or 
perverted to the display of human vanity. These 
things are lighter than a feather, and lose all their im- 
portance, in the eyes of a man who remembers that he 
has an account to settle with God ; and that he knows 
not the moment when his account may be demanded. 
It is observable, and ought to sink deep into the heart 
of every preacher of the gospel, that Paul accounted 
himself pure from the blood of all men, because he 
had not concealed from them any part of God's truth. 
He knew not that policy by which some pulpits have 
been disgraced, of deferring the declaration of the whole 
truth to a more convenient season. As if the native 
enmity of the heart were to be softened by delay — as 
if it could be reduced by any thing but the truth itself 
as if men ever found their audiences more tractable by 
this kind of forbearance ; or were themselves more instru- 
mental in bringing sinners to God ; or had the answer 
of a good conscience more complete in their own 
bosoms. God knows infinitely better than we, what 
truths are suited to our circumstances, and has revealed 
them in his book. If there is one trait of a faithful 
minister more obvious than another, it is this, that he 
is not afraid, nor ashamed to say what God has said 
before him in his Word." 

Hear the spirit-stirring words of Baxter : — "O dreadful 
reckoning to unfaithful shepherds; when they must 



Ill 

answer for the ruin of their miserable flocks ! How 
great will their damnation be which must be aggra- 
vated by the damnation of so many others ! "When 
the question is, c How came so many souls to perish V 
the answer must be, Because they set light by Christ 
and holiness, which would have saved tjiem. ' But 
what made them set light by Christ and holiness V It 
was their deceitful confidence, that they had so much 
part in Christ and holiness as would suffice to save them, 
though, indeed, they were unsanctified strangers unto 
both. They were not practically acquainted with their 
necessities. c But how came they to continue thus 
ignorant of themselves, till it was too late V Because 
they had teachers that kept them strangers to the nature 
of true holiness, and did not labour, publicly and pri- 
vately, to convince them of their undone condition, and 
to drive them to Christ, that by him they might have 
life. Woe to such teachers thai ever they were born, 
that must then be found under the guilt of such perfi- 
diousness and cruelty ! Had they ever felt themselves, 
what it is to be pursued by the law of conscience, and 
with broken hearts, to cast themselves on Christ, as 
their only hope and refuge ; and what it is to be sanc- 
tified, and to be sensible of all his love, — they would 
take another course with sinners, and talk of sin, and 
Christ, and holiness at other rates, and not deceive their 
people with themselves." — "How often do we hear ser- 
mons applauded, which force us in compassion to men's 
souls, to think, O what is all this to the opening of a 
sinner's heart unto himself, and showing him his unre- 



112 

generate state 1 What is this to the conviction of a 
self-deluding soul, that is passing into hell, with the 
confident expectations of heaven ? What is this to show 
men their undone condition, and the absolute necessity 
of Christ, and of renewing grace? What is this to lead 
men up from earth to heaven, and to acquaint them 
with the unseen world, and to help them to the life of 
faith and love, and to the mortifying and pardon of 
their sins ? How little skill have many miserable 
preachers in the searching of the heart, and helping 
men to know themselves whether Christ be in them : 
or whether they be reprobates V 

VII. 

Let there be, in your Discourses, the utmost 
Clearness of Discrimination between the two great 
classes of characters of ivhich your hearers must 
necessarily consist. 

" The Bible," observes Dr. Chalmers. " everywhere 
groups the individuals of our species into two general 
and distinct classes, and assigns to each of them its 
appropriate designation. It tells us of the vessels of 
wrath, and of the vessels of mercy ; of the travel- 
lers on a narrow path, and on a broad way ; of the 
children of this world, and the children of light ; and 
lastly, of men who are carnally minded, and men who 
are spiritually minded. It employs these terms in 
a meaning so extensive, that, by each couplet of 
them 5 it embraces all individuals. There is no sepa- 



113 

rate number of persons, forming of themselves a neutral 
class, and standing without the limits of the two others. 
And were it possible to conceive, that human nature, 
as it exists at present in the world, were laid in a map 
before us, you would see no intermediate ground be- 
tween the two classes, which are thus contrasted in 
the Bible ; — but these are thrown into two distinct 
regions, with one clear and vigorous line of demarca- 
tion between them. — We cannot conceive then a 
question of mightier interest, than the situation of this 
line, — a line which takes its own steady and unfalter- 
ing way, through the thousand varieties of character 
that exist in the world ; and which reduces them all to 
two great and awfully important divisions.' 5 

Without tracing this line of demarcation, and urging 
the hearers to ascertain on which side of the line they 
actually stand, the great end of preaching cannot be 
secured. Without it, you cannot reasonably expect 
that there should be awakened a feeling of personal 
interest or a sense of deep solicitude. If the hearers 
be not directed, and even impelled, to institute a scru- 
tinizing inquiry into their character in the sight of God. 
it is to be expected that many will be saying to them 
sehes u Peace and Safety," when even on the very 
verge of " sudden destruction." Absurd were it to 
expect, that any should " flee for refuge to the hope set 
before them," if they are not deeply aware of their 
exposure to " the wrath to come." There may be in 
the very discussion of a subject, and in the general 
structure of a discourse, ample materials for discrimina 

10* 



114 

iion ; of which every hearer ought to avail himself, for 
the purpose of self-examination ; but it would betray 
great ignorance of the human heart, and of the delu- 
sion it often practises upon itself, to presume, that the 
hearer will spontaneously institute, and faithfully 
pursue, the process of scrutinizing his own character. 
To this momentous, but unwelcome effort, the preacher 
of the gospel should urge his auditory, in every dis- 
course he delivers. He should not allow them to escape 
from the task of self-inspection. He should draw the 
line of demarcation with the utmost clearness, and 
compel them, however reluctant they may feel, to 
bring their consciences to the test. By means of the 
utmost fidelity and earnestness, he should endeavour 
to render it almost impossible for them to neutralize 
the pungency of divine warnings and threatenings, or 
to continue in a state of entire uncertainty, with regard 
to their present character, and their prospects of futurity > 

VIII. 

Let pointed Appeals to the Heart, and direct Ap 
plications to the Conscience* form a prominent feci 
litre of your Discourses. 

Addresses from the pulpit should not assume, through 
out, the didactic form. The preacher should remem 
foer, that his work should not be restricted simply to 
instruction. There are other objects also at which he 
should strenuously aim. He should endeavour to ex- 
cite, to awaken, to impress, and to persuade. In order 



115 

to the attainment of these ends, he must address him- 
self not merely to the judgment, but also to the con- 
science, and to the heart. Nor let him imagine, that 
these objects are so unconnected, as to render it advisa- 
ble for him studiously to keep them apart ; on the con- 
trary, let him be aware that, from the powerful and re- 
ciprocal influence of the different parts of our mental 
economy, while, in many instances, the intellect forms 
the best avenue to the heart, so, not less frequently, is 
the heart the best avenue to the intellect. Whether 
therefore he consult the philosophy of the human mind ? 
or the dictates of sound experience, he will avail him- 
self of every opportunity which the subject may admit, 
of a pointed and powerful appeal. To defer the per- 
sonal application of a subject entirely to the concluding 
part of a discourse, however common, appears by no 
means advisable. Not unfrequently does it occur, that 
the time is so far spent, and the patience of the hearer 
so far exhausted, that the applicatory part of the ser- 
mon is short and hurried and powerless. Perhaps some 
vague anticipation in the mind of the preacher, of the 
probability of this, has prevented the due consideration 
of those trains of thought, which might be best adapt- 
ed for the purpose ; so that the very part of the discourse 
which might have been the most efficient, is as little 
studied by the preacher as it is felt by the hearer, 
There is also an aspect of formality, when the design 
of a direct application is avowed, which is not, in every 
instance, so favourable to the desired effect, as a sud 
denand unexpected, yet natural and appropriate ap 



116 

peal, arising out of the discussion or elucidation of the 
subject itself. The latter comes upon the mind with the 
full force of the weighty and impressive sentiment by 
which it has been suggested, because it is pressed upon 
the conscience at the very time in which the sentiment 
itself is calling forth the vigour of the mind, and excite- 
ing the ardour of its feelings. Why then should we al- 
low the mind to escape from the force and grasp of the 
momentous truth ; and why should we allow the tempe- 
rature of its feelings to be cooled down, before we make 
our demand on the conscience, and urge it to perform its 
duty ? I do not recommend that the method of a con- 
cluding application should be altogether discontinued ; 
but only that whenever a valuable opportunity presents 
itself of a warm and powerful appeal, it should be in- 
stantly and eagerly embraced : reserving only for |the 
conclusion, such general inferences and considerations, 
as did not previously occur, or could not with equal 
advantage be introduced. 

" You have been half an hour," said the late Mr. 
Robinson, of Leicester, to a brother clergyman, " without 
one word directly aimed at the conscience." 

IX. 

Do not aim at a degree of Originality, to which 
you are not equal, or of which the subject wider 
consideration does not admit* 

In the highest sense of the term, there are very few 
who can safely or successfully aspire to originality. 



117 

even in their most elevated and most powerful efforts- 
There is, however, a kindred quality, of a humbler, 
yet scarcely of a less valuable, character, at which it is 
not only safe but desirable to aim. This quality I 
would denote by the term individuality, and I will 
endeavour to explain the sense in which I venture to 
employ it. The minds of men differ not less than 
their countenances. The face of every individual has 
its own peculiar aspect, its own peculiar expression. 
The features taken separately may bear resemblance 
to the features of many others, but the combination of 
the whole gives to every countenance an indescribable 
character of individuality, by which it is distinguished 
from that of every other human being. Analogous to 
these indications of individuality of countenance, are 
the characteristic differences which obtain among 
minds. The leading faculties of the intellect, and 
the essential susceptibilities of the heart, belong to our 
common nature. But in different individuals, they 
exist in different degrees and in different proportions. 
They have received different degrees of cultivation and 
of excitement ; they have been developed under widely 
different circumstances ; they have been conversant 
with different classes of objects. The result is, that 
every individual is distinguished by his own peculiar 
habits of thinking and of expressing thought. He 
has his own plans of reading, of reflecting, and of 
investigating. He has his own processes of incorpora- 
ting the thoughts of others, with the ideas which appear 
to be the spontaneous produce of his own mind, His 



118 

mind may be compared to a mould which gives to the 
yielding substance its form and character, its " image 
and superscription." Now in proportion to the vigour 
and to the completeness of intellectual operations, and 
in proportion to the facility of carrying forward the 
processes of manly and independent thinking, the 
mind may be expected to obtain a character of indivi- 
duality. Even when it avails itself of the thoughts of 
others, it has the talent of making those thoughts its 
own, before it communicates them by discourse or by 
writing. The ideas which are derived from a variety 
of conversations, or of books, are so modified and 
arranged and expressed, that although they present to 
notice little which can be pronounced new or original, 
yet they exhibit an aspect characteristically different 
from that which they have received from the lips, or 
from the pen, of any other individual. They are 
obviously the result of the workings of a mind, which 
has the power of thought, and which finds delight and 
facility in the exertion of that power. When employ- 
ed in elucidating, in enforcing, and in applying the 
s; word of truth," they are the operations of the " work- 
man that needeth not to be ashamed." He may not 
be endowed with the talent of bold and inventive origi- 
nality, but he commands and he rewards the attention 
of his hearers, by the characteristics of an interesting 
individuality. He is sufficiently alive to a sense of 
what he is not capable of attaining, to preserve him 
from aspiring to the elevation of a towering genius ; 
and he is sufficiently alive to a sense of what he is 



119 

capable of effecting, to preserve him from sinking into 
the degradation of a servile imitator, or of an adept at 
the concealment of plagiarisms. 

x. 

Study assiduously the best way of access to the 
Human Mind. 

There are two great benefits which a Minister should 
endeavour to derive from studying the philosophy of the 
human mind ;— the one is, the improvement of his ow T n 
intellectual faculties and habits ; — the other is, the dis- 
covery of the most direct avenues to the minds and 
hearts of his hearers If the former of these objects is 
to be especially pursued in a course of preparatory stud}', 
the latter should be no less the incessant object of solid- 
tude, in the discharge of ministerial duties. Our con- 
stant aim should be to speak to the heart, through the 
medium of the intellect ; and in order to do this, 
we must ascertain, by self-acquaintance, and by eagle- 
eyed observation, what it is which interests the human 
mind, and what it is which affects the human heart. 
:i The minister of the gospel," observes Mi\ Cecil, "should 
make experiments on himself and others, in order to 
find out what will produce effect. Nothing of this na- 
ture is lost upon mankind ; it is worth its weight in- 
gold for the service of a minister. He mast remark 
too, what it is that puzzles and distracts the mind : all 
this is to be avoided : it may wear the garb of deep re- 
search, and great acumen, and extensive learning : 



120 

but it is nothing to the mass of mankind. One of the 
most important considerations in making a sermon, is 
to disembarrass it as much as possible. The sermons 
of the last century were like their large unwieldly chairs. 
Men have now a far more true idea of a chair. They 
consider it as a piece of furniture to sit upon, and they 
cut away from it every thing that embarrasses and en- 
cumbers it. It requires as much reflection and wisdom; 
to know what is not to be put into a sermon, as what is. 
A young minister should look around him, that he may 
see what has succeeded and what has not. Truth is to 
be his companion, but he is to clothe her so as to gain 
for her access. Truth must never bow to fashion or 
prejudice ; but her garb may be varied. The man who 
labours to please his neighbour for his good to edifica- 
tion, has the mind that was in Christ. It is a sinner 
trying to help a sinner. Even a feeble, but kind and 
tender man, will effect more than a genius, who is 
rough or artificial. There is danger, doubtless, of hu- 
mouring others ; and against this we must be on our 
guard. It is a kind and accommodating spirit at which 
we must aim." 

In studying human nature, the young minister 
should be every where a learner. " He should imitate 
Gainsborough," observes Mr. Cecil. "Gainsborough 
transfused nature into his landscapes, beyond almost 
any of his contemporaries ; because Gainsborough 
was every where the painter. Every remarkable 
feature or position of a tree — every fine stroke of na- 
ture—was copied into his pocket-book on the spot; 



121 

and in his next picture, appeared with a life and viva 
city and nature, which no strength of memory or 
imagination could have supplied." 

In a recent critique on Lockhart's Life of Burns, there 
are the following remarks, which if applicable to that 
interesting Poet, in whose character there was so much 
to lament, ought to be characteristic of the minister 
of Christ. — " The passion traced before us has glowed 
in a living heart; the opinion he utters has risen in his 
own understanding, and been a light to his own steps. 
He does not write from hearsay, but from sight and 
experience. It is the scenes he has lived and labored 
amidst that he describes : those scenes, rude and 
humble at they are, then kindled beautiful emotions in 
his soul, noble thoughts and definite resolves ; and he 
speaks forth what is in him not from any outward call 
of vanity or interest, but because his heart is too full to 
be silent. He speaks it too with such melody and 
modulation as he can in : homely rustic phrase,' but 
it is his own and genuine. This is the grand secret 
for finding hearers, and retaining them : let him who 
would move and convince others, be first moved and 
convinced himself. — Be true, if you would be believed. 
Let a man but speak forth with genuine earnestness 
the thought, the emotion, the actual condition of his 
own heart ; and other men — so strongly are we all 
knit together by the tie of sympathy — must and will 
give heed to him. In culture, in extent of view, we 
may stand above the speaker, or below him, but in 
either case* if he is earnest and sincere, he will find 



122 

some response within us ; for in spite of all casual 
varieties in outward rank or inward, as face answers to 
face, so does the heart of man to man." 

XL 

In your Preparation for the Pulpit^ endeavour 
to detive from the subjcet on which you are about 
to preach, that Spiritual Benefit which you wish 
your hearers to receive. 

* It is the remark of Owen," observes Mr. Cecil, 
"that it is not sufficiently considered, how much a 
minister's personal religion is exposed to danger, from 
the very circumstance of religion being his profession 
and employment. He must go through the acts of 
religion : he must put on the appearance of religion : 
he must utter the language and display the feelings of 
religion. It requires double diligence and vigilance, to 
maintain, under such circumstances, the spirit of 
religion. I have prayed : I have talked : I have 
preached : but now I should perish after all, if I did 
not feed on the bread which I have broken to others." 
" Study your discourses," said the venerable Mr. 
Booth, "with a devotional disposition. To this you 
are bound by the very nature of the case, as a christian 
minister. For when the Bible is before you, it is the 
word of God on which you meditate, and the work of 
God you are preparing to perform. It is reported of 
Dr. Cotton Mather, that in studying and preparing his 
sermons, his way was 3 at the end of every paragraph, 



"« 123 

to make a pause and to endeavour to make his own 
soul feel some holy impression of the truths contained 
in it. This he thought would be an excellent means 
of delivering his sermons with life and spirit, and of 
warming the hearts of his people ; and so he found it." 
This holy and successful minister was, in the most 
extensive sense of the expression, " a man of prayer. 55 
His custom was " to pray for direction in the choice of 
his text and subject ; and before he entered on a sub- 
ject, which might require several sermons, or undertook 
to expound a larger portion of scripture, he entered on 
more special and solemn supplication, for all necessary 
aids." 

The following testimony of Mr. Scott, as the result 
of his own experience, is deeply interesting. " The 
degree in which, after the most careful preparation for 
the pulpit, new thoughts, new arguments, animated 
addresses, often flow into my mind, while speaking to 
a congregation, even on very common subjects, makes 
me feel as if I was quite another man, than when 
poring over them in my study. There will be inac- 
curacies, but, generally, the most striking things in my 
sermons are unpremeditated." 

How exemplary in devotional preparation for the 
pulpit was that holy man of God, Mr. Fletcher, of 
Madely. "His preaching," says Mr. Gilpin, "was 
perpetually preceded, accompanied and succeeded by 
prayer. Before he entered upon the performance of 
this duty, he requested of the Great c Master of assem- 
Mies/ a subject adapted to the conditions of his people. 



124 

earnestly soliciting for himself wisdom, utterance and 
power ; for them a serious frame, an unprejudiced 
mind, and a retentive heart. This necessary prepara- 
tion for the profitable performance of his ministerial 
duties, was of longer or shorter duration, according to 
his peculiar state at the time ; and frequently he could 
form a judgment of the effect which would be produ- 
ced in public by the languor or the enlargement he 
experienced in private." 

Philip Henry on one occasion thus wrote after a day 
of studious effort : w I forgot when I began, explicitly 
and expressly to crave help from God, and the chariot 
w^heels drove accordingly. Lord, forgive my omis- 
sions, and keep me in the way of duty." 

" Content not yourselves to have the main work of 
grace," said that successful minister Mr. Baxter; 
"but be also very careful that your grace be kept in life 
and action, and that you preach to yourselves the ser- 
mons that you study, before you preach them to others. 
If you did this, for your own sakes, it would be no lost 
labour ; but I am speaking to you upon the public 
account, that you may do it for the sake of the church, 
When your minds are in a heavenly frame, your 
people are likely to have the fruits of it. I confess I 
must speak it by lamentable experience, that I publish 
to my flock the distempers of my soul. When I let 
my heart grow cold, my preaching is cold. If it be 
not your daily, serious business, to study your own 
hearts, and subdue corruptions, and live as upon God ? 
all will go amisSj and you will starve your auditors ; 



125 

or if you have but an affected fervency, you cannot 
expect a blessing to attend it. Watch, therefore, for 
the sake of yourselves and others. And more particu- 
larly, methinks a minister should take some special 
pains with his heart, before he is to go to the congre 
gation. If it be then cold, how is it to warm the hearts 
of the hearers ! Go, therefore, specially to God for 
life. Read some rousing, awakening book ; or medi- 
tate on the weight of the subject you are to speak of^ 
that you may go, in the zeal of the Lord, into his 
house !* 

" To preach the word," remarks Dr. Owen, " and 
not to follow it with prayer, is to believe its use, to 
neglect its end, and to cast away all the seed of the 
gospel at random." 

To these dictates of wisdom and of experience from 
such men as Owen, and Baxter, and Mather, and 
Cecil, and Booth, what can be added ? " Let us go 
and do likewise." That their example is imitated by 
some eminently holy and useful ministers of the pre- 
sent day, I have learned from their own lips. Some 
of them usually spend an hour or two immediately 
before going into the pulpit, in praying over their 
sermons and in preaching them on their knees to their 
own hearts Is it surprising, that the " unction of 
the Holy One" should descend on their hearts, on their 
lips, and on their hearers, and that "much people 
should be added to the Lord ?" 



n\ 



126 

XII. 

Attach due importance to the Devotional Parts of 
Public Worship, and be solicitous to conduct them 
in a spirit of Evangelical Fervour. 

It is to be feared that among the hearers of the 
gospel, there are not a few, who are in the habit of 
regarding the sermon as almost every thing, and the 
prayers as of very inferior interest and minor impor- 
tance. And is there no ground of apprehension, that 
too near an approach to this state of feeling may be 
suspected also, in some who preach the gospel ? Mr. 
Cecil went so far as to say, that "the leading defect in 
christian ministers, is the want of a devotional habits 
And is not the truth of the remark too often exempli- 
fied ? How often is there a display of energy, eleva- 
tion and fervour in the sermon, so as to form a contrast 
with the dryness and coldness of the prayer ! Does it 
not seem as if the best feelings of the soul were allowed 
to lie dormant in communion with God, whereas they 
are all in a state of excitement when a discourse is to 
be delivered to fellow men? And is there not a defect 
in point of spirituality, as well as in point of fervour ? 
The prayer may indeed be protracted tc a sufficient 
and more than a sufficient length, and yet be lamen 
tably defective. There may be too many words, and yet, 
with regard to many blessings of the highest value, 
there may be too few petitions. There may be no 
want of petitions for temporal good ; of petitions for indivi 
duals who request an interest in the prayers of the con 
gregation ; of petitions for our country, and for the gene 



127 

ml interest of the family of man : (and these should be- 
yond a doubt occupy no inconsiderable space in the exer- 
cise of prolonged devotion); but in how few words, in the 
prayers of some ministers, are those petitions comprised, 
which have reference to blessings of the highest order- 
blessings which a fallen, guilty, dying creature should 
most anxiously desire and most fervently implore ! 
How few are the petitions for the fulness of spiritual 
blessings, for which the covenant of grace most amply 
provides, and for which the throne of grace is primarily 
designed ! How slight is the recognition of the medi- 
atoral character and work of the Lord Jesus Christ ! 
How slight is the reference to the glorious operations 
of the Holy Spirit, and to the gracious and condescend- 
ing promises of his aid, in answer to the prayer of faith ! 
After studying the models of apostolic prayer which 
are left on record in the sacred writings, might not the 
devotional worshipper be in some instances almost 
tempted to think, that in conducting the devotions of 
the auditory, the minister had forgotten that the object 
of primary importance in approaching the throne of 
Him who heareth prayer, is to " obtain mercy } and to 
find grace f J 

Are there not some of our younger ministers, who 
have been accustomed to think too little of the impor- 
tance of the devotional exercises of public worship ? 
Have they not much need to cultivate, in their hours 
of retirement, those feelings, which, when habitually 
prevalent, will be the best preparative both for the 
prayers and for the discourses of the pulpit? Should 



128 

it not be their most earnest desire, with this view, that 
the word of Christ may dwell in them richly, and 
that the Spirit of Christ may be to them, in every act of 
worship " the Spirit of grace and of supplication V 

XIL 

Cherish earnest Desires, and encouraging Expec- 
tations, of Success. 

A man who engages with all his heart, and all his 
energies, ir^ any pursuit, cannot but solicitously desire 
the prosperity of his undertaking ; and certain it is, that 
the persevering efforts of his mind will bear some propor- 
tion to the expectations which he forms. The man of 
business, the man of letters, the lawyer, and the physi 
cian, are impelled to habitual diligence in their respective 
careers, by the prospect of realizing their hopes. Nor 
is the stimulus of hope needed, in any instance more. 
than in the discharge of the arduous and onerous func- 
tions of the christian ministry. Many circumstances 
may wear an unpromising aspect, and exert a depress- 
ing influence ; a counteracting influence is then greatly 
to be desired ; and this is chiefly to be felt in the anticipa- 
tions of growing usefulness and augmented prosperity. 

" If you would prosper in your work," said Mr. Bax 
ter, " be sure to keep up earnest desires and expectations 
of success. If your hearts be not set on the end of your 
labours ; and you long not to see the conversion and 
edification of your hearers, and do not study and preach 
in hope, you are not likely to see much fruit of it, 



129 

Let all that preach for Christ and men's salvation, be 
unsatisfied, till they have the thing- they preach for. 
When a man only studies what to say, and how with 
commendation to spend the hour, and looks no more af- 
ter it, unless it be to know what people think of his own 
abilities, and thus holds on from year to year, I must 
needs think that this man preaches for himself, and not 
for Christ, how excellently soever he may seem to do it 
I know that our acceptance is not according to the fruit, 
but according to the degree of our labour ; but he can- 
not be a faithful labourer, who does not long for the 
success of his labours, and is not grieved at their appa- 
rent failure." 

The actual amount of success resulting from the mi- 
nistry of any individual, in any given period, it is indeed 
impossible correctly to estimate. We should be on our 
guard, lest according to the characteristic tendencies of 
our own minds, we should either appreciate that suc- 
cess at too low, or at too high a rate. Some men are 
constitutionally inclined to the former, and some to the 
latter extreme. Those of the one class should be re- 
minded, that much good may have been effected, which 
has not yet been developed ; and much which may 
never be fully apparent, till the day of final disclosure : 
those of the other class may need to be apprised — " that 
all is not gold which glitters." "Many evangelical and 
popular preachers," says the pious author of the c Reign 
of Grace,' " have greatly overrated the usefulness of 
their own labours. For the longer I live, the more ap- 
prehensive I am 5 that the number of real converts, 



130 

among those who profess the genuine gospel^ is compa- 
ratively small." 

XIV. 

Exercise a humble and entire Dependence on the 
promised Influences of the Holy Spirit* 

Not one single truth, in the whole compass of divine 
revelation, is more firmly established, than the necessity 
of the influence of the Spirit of God, in order to the 
desired effect of divine truth upon the heart of man. 
Not one single promise is given with more explicitness, 
than the assurances of that aid, to those who ask it 
If the persuasion of the necessity, and the promise of 
the grant, of this sacred influence, should dwell upon 
the mind of every christian, what should be the desire 
and the dependence of every christian minister ? If 
he be himself enlightened and renewed, the doctrine 
of divine influence will assuredly be the grand support, 
and the grand encouragement, of all those hopes of 
success which he delights to cherish. For the copious 
effusion of the influences of the Holy Spirit on himself, 
and on his hearers, he will most earnestly offer his sup- 
plications at the throne of heavenly grace. On this 
subject of deepest interest and vital importance, I can- 
not refrain from citing at some length the pointed and 
pungent remarks of Dr. Chalmers, in his sermon on 
the necessity of the Spirit, to give effect to the preaching 
of the Gospel :— 

" There is a dark and settled depravity in the human 



131 

character, which maintains its gloomy and obstinate 
resistance to all our warnings and all our arguments. 
There is a spirit working in the children of disobedi- 
ence, which no power of human eloquence can lay.™ 
The minister who enters into this field of conflict may 
have zeal, and talents, and eloquence. His heart may 
be smitten with the love of the truth, and his mind be 
fully fraught with its arguments. Thus armed, he 
may come forth among his people, flushed with the 
mighty enterprise of turning souls from the dominion of 
Satan unto God. In all the hope of victory, he may dis- 
charge the weapons of his warfare among them. Week 
after week he may reason with themout of the Scriptures. 
Sabbath after Sabbath he may declaim, he may de- 
monstrate, he may put forth every expedient ; he may 
at one time set in array before them the terrors of the 
law ; at another he may try to win them by the free 
offer of the gospel ; and in the proud confidence of 
success, he may think that nothing can withstand him, 
and f that the heart of every hearer must give way, 
before the ardour of his zeal, and the power of his invin- 
cible arguments. Yes : they may admire him, but the 
question we have to ask is, will they be converted by 
him ? They may even go so far as to allow that it is 
all very true which he says. He may be their favour- 
ite preacher, and when he opens his exhortations upon 
them, there may be a deep and a solemn attention in 
every countenance. But how is the heart coming on 
all the while ? How do these people live, and what evi- 
dence are they giving of being born again under the 
power of his ministry ? 



132 

" Look to all that is visible in the life of the Apostle 
Paul.— Never were the labours of human exertion more 
faithfully rendered, — never were the workings of a hu- 
man instrument put forth with greater energy. But, 
while he did as much toward the extension of the chris- 
tian faith, as If the whole success of the cause depended 
upon his doing, — he prayed as much, and as fervently, 
for this object, as if all his doings were of no conse- 
quence. — He who looked so busy, and whose hand was 
so constantly engaged in the work that was before him 3 
looked for all his success, to that help which cometh 
from the sanctuary of God. There was his eye directed. 
Thence alone did he expect a blessing upon his endea- 
vours. He wrought, and that with diligence too, 
because God bade him ; but he also prayed, and that 
with equal diligence, because God had revealed to him, 
that plant as he may, and water as he may, God alone 
giveth the increase. He did homage to the will of 
God, by the labours of the ever- working minister,— 
and he did homage to the power of God, by the devo- 
tions of the ever-praying minister. — The Apostle kept 
both working and praying, and with him they formed 
two distinct emanations of the same principle ; and 
while there are many who make these christian graces 
to neutralize each other, the judicious and the clear-sight - 
ed Paul, who had received the spirit of a sound mind, 
could give his unembarrassed vigour to both these exer- 
cises, and combine, in his own example, the utmost 
diligence in doing, with the utmost dependence on him. 
who can alone give to that doing all its fruit and all its 
efficacy." 



133 

" In preaching,' 9 said Mr Cecil, " I have no encou 
ragement but the belief of a continued divine operation 
To bring a man to love God — to love the law of God. 
while it condemns him— to loath himself before God, 
to tread the earth under his feet— to hunger and 
thirst after God in Christ — with man this is impossi 
hie ! But God has said it shall be done ; and bids 
me go forth and preach, that by me, as his instru- 
ment, he may effect these great ends ; and therefore I 
go." 

Let us then pray for the Holy Spirit, believing that 
God is really disposed to grant us the heavenly gift- 
Shall we not confidently expect that which God has 
absolutely promised to give, and which it is unques 
tionably for his glory to bestow ? Now is it not for the 
glory of God, that churches should be edified and 
multiplied, and that much people should be added to 
the Lord ? Is it not thus that the Redeemer is to see 
of the travail of his soul and to be satisfied ? Is it not 
to effect purposes such as these, that he has ascended 
the throne of universal sovereignty, and that he directs 
at his pleasure all events ? Let me ask, further, is it not 
perfectly easy for God to grant a revival of religion 
among us, and among other British churches, by grant- 
ing the abundant effusion of his Spirit ? Are not the 
hearts of all men subject to his power ? Are not all 
their faculties under his control ? With perfect facility 
he can fix in their consciences convictions of sin ; he 
can open the eyes of their understanding ; he can lead 

them to discern their need of a Saviour ; he can induce 

12 



134 

them to abandon every fallacious reliance ; he can ef 
fectually urge them to " flee for refuge to lay hold upon 
the hope set before them ;" he can accomplish in them 
" all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of 
faith with power." Why then should we not expect 
this " glorious working of his mighty power ? He has 
recently " made bare his arm," in the sight of a distant 
nation, and has revealed his power " as in the days of 
old." Be it remembered also, that these instances of 
revivals in religion are, in truth, so many instances of 
the success of prayer. Let this then, be the confidence 
that we can say we have in God, " that if we ask any 
thing, according to his will, he heareth us ; and if we 
know that he hears us, we know that we have the pe- 
titions that we desired of him." — " Before they call," he 
has said " I will answer, and while they are yet speak- 
ing I will hear." " If you never expect a revival," said 
an American pastor, whose church was soon afterwards 
signally favoured, " you will never enjoy one. But if 
you expect it, you will desire it, you will pray for it ; 
and your efforts will all correspond with this high ex- 
pectation. You will look to God, and rely on God in all 
you do. — O Christians, who can tell, but the day of 
blessing is near ? While bowing your knees, like the 
prophet, on the top of Carmel, some herald of mercy may 
tell you of c a little cloud, 5 which, though { no bigger 
than a man's hand, 5 may soon cover the heavens, and 
pour down the refreshing shower. 55 * 

* See the Author- s Pastoral Discourses on Revivalslbn Religion. 



135 

XV. 

Endeavour to adopt the most interesting and 
efficient methods of conveying Religious Instruction 
to the young. 

Is it not in early life, that the best susceptibilities of 
the heart are most easily excited and directed ? Is it 
not an instructive fact, that among those who have been 
religiously educated the greater number of real con 
versions to God may be traced to an early date ? Are 
not those who at present belong to the youthful class of the 
congregation after a short period has elasped, to consti- 
tute the strength of the society, whether civil or religious* 
with which they may be connected ? Is it not most 
desirable that, even from early youth, they should be 
accustomed to regard their pastor as their friend, and to 
feel the attachment which grows out of the persuasion, 
that he is most affectionately desirous of promoting their 
truest interests ? Are not those ministers usually the 
most happy, and the most successful, who display the 
kindest solicitude for the juvenile division of their flock ? 
Does it not then become an object of primary importance 
to devise and to adopt the best methods of guiding 
them into the ways of wisdom and the paths of peace ? 

With a view to the attainment of this grand object, 
various plans have been attended with encouraging 
success. It has been found highly beneficial to address 
to the young, at stated periods, discourses particularly 
adapted to their character and circumstances; and many 
are now the ornaments of our churches., who ascribe 



136 

their first and most decided impressions of divine truth to 
these effusions of pastoral solicitude. But still greater 
importance is to be attached to more frequent and more 
familiar methods of instruction, in which the precise plan 
may be adj usted by that practical wisdom, which will take 
into view the education, the habits, the intellectual attain- 
ments, and the degree of leisure, by which the greater 
number may be distinguished. If they have advanced 
beyond the age ordinarily compatible with catechetical 
instruction, their attention may be directed, with advan- 
tage, to a familiar exposition of some appropriate portions 
of scripture — or to a series of familiar lectures on the most 
important points of theological truth — or to the persusalj 
at their own convenience, of books calculated to impress 
upon their minds the leading principles of divine reve- 
lation, on which the minister may offer his own remark^ 
for the purpose of additional illustration and enforcement. 
It is impossible to calculate the benefit which may arise 
from the persevering employmentof such plansas these, 
when pursued with a devotional spirit, and with earnest 
supplication for that divine influence, without which 
the weighty reasoning of Paul and the winning elo- 
quence of Apollos, even in happiest combination, would 
be altogether inefficient. 

But the most beneficial of all plans which can be 
adopted for the advantage of the young is, I am fully 
persuaded, the method of Bible Class instruction, which, 
I trust, will become at length as general in this country 
as it is already among the American churches. 

c: The leading object of Bible classes may be stated 



137 

m one sentence. It is, to convey to the minds of the 
young, as accurate and extensivea knowledgeas maybe 
found practicable, of the most important contents of 
the Bible. It is impossible to conceive of any effort 
more in unison with the grand object of a minister of 
the gospel, than the attempt to render intelligible and 
interesting to the young of every class, the vital truths, 
the pure precepts, the instructive histories, and the 
precious promises of the word of God. 

" The characteristic principle of Bible class tuition 
is that of catechetical instruction. This principle has 
the sanction of immemorial usage ; having been adop- 
ted, with success, by the wisest preceptors in successive 
generations. Catechisms, without number, not only 
for the purposes of religion, but also of science, may be 
regarded as so many attestations to the excellence of 
the general system. But it is important to bear in 
mind, that the application of the principle is not 
dependent on a printed form or on a fixed series of 
questions and of answers ; neither does it necessarily 
require the labour of committing to memory specific 
phrases or sentences. If certain truths or facts have 
been previously conveyed to the mind of the learner, 
with simplicity, with clearness, and with force, it may 
be easy to the teacher to put to the test, and to elicit, 
the amount of knowledge which the learner may 
have acquired; and it may not be difficult to the 
learner, after being a little accustomed to the effort, U 
express the ideas he has imbibed, in terms the most 

fttmiliar to his own mind. 

12* 



138 

u Catechisms havebeen composed for different ages and 
for different gradations of progress in knowledge ; yet 
without a succession of catechisms, burdensome to the 
learner, it is exceedingly difficult to adapt the convey- 
ances of truth to the diversified capacities of children and 
the different stages of advancement observable among 
many, even of the same age. Difficulties on the part 
of the teacher often increase rather than diminish, as 
the childhood of the scholar ripens into youth. Reluc- 
tance to the continued repetition of a catechism often 
shows itself, even if a Minister be the catechist ; and 
few comparatively continue to be his catechumens^ 
when arrived at that period of youth which is, beyond 
comparison, the most important, as connected with the 
growth and developement of the human character. 
Now this is the very period of life in which the princi- 
ple of Bible class instruction may be brought to bear 
with most promising effect, upon the opening and in- 
quiring mind. If there be a desire of knowledge, and 
that desire be directed to the treasures of divine revela- 
tion, is it not unspeakably important, that the minister 
of the gospel should avail himself of this state of mind, 
with a view to the conveyance of that truth which 
maketh wise unto salvation ? 

"Let it be supposed, then, that some book of scrip 
iure, such as one of the Gospels, or the Acts of the 
Apostles, has been selected for familiar explanation. 
Either at a public lecture or in a meeting with the 
young, a chapter or part of a chapter, may be elucida 
ted with clearness and simplicity of statement, and 



139 

pressed with affectionate earnestness on the conscience 
and the heart. The young people of the congregation 
may be divided into classes, at the discretion of the 
minister. Two classes— a senior and a junior— may 
include all the young females of the congregation ; 
and two additional classes may be formed ; the one for 
boys, the other for young men. Let each class meet 
separately, once in the week, or once in a fortnight : 
and let plain and pointed questions be addressed to 
them individually, of such a character as to call forth 
the knowledge they have acquired by the previous 
explanation of the chapter, and by their private study 
of the passage. It may be found equally to facilitate 
the labours, both of the teacher and of the learners, to 
use such a help as is to be found in ' Judson's Scrip- 
ture Questions,' employed to a great extent in the 
American Bible classes, and reprinted in London, at a 
very low price, by the Religious Tract Society. 

" If such a course of Bible instruction be steadily pur 
sued by ministers of the gospel, with earnest prayer for 
; an unction from the Holy One;' advantages of the 
very highest character may be expected to result. 

" 1. The christian pastor will be brought into more 
immediate and intimate contact with a most interesting 
and important part of the flock intrusted to his care. 

" He will discover the most direct avenues, both to the 
heart and to the intellect, of the different classes of the 
young. He will love them, and they will love him 
They will venerate him as a father, and confide in him 
as a friend. His own qualifications for usefulness 



140 

among them will increase, by a growing aptitude for the 
right communication of truth, and a growing delight 
in the employment. 

" 2. An impulse will be given to parental diligence 
among the people of his charge. 

" It has been said that some parents have declined 
sending their children for the catechetical instructions 
of the pastor, lest their deficiency of scriptural know- 
ledge should be regarded as a reproach to their parents. 
When it is expected that children should be sent for 
such instruction, it will rouse the parents who have 
been negligent, and give an additional incentive and 
encouragement to such as are diligent. Pious parerts 
will know how to value their pastor, as a coadjutor with 
themselves, in training up their children in the discipline 
and instruction of the Lord: they will e esteem him 
very highly in love for his work's sake. 5 

"3. Pulpit instructions will be rendered more avail- 
able. 

" On how many minds, especially among the poor 
and the young, the discourses of the pulpit produce no 
effect ! They are altogether inefficient. They are 
not even understood. They proceed on the supposition 
of a habit of attention which is not acquired, and of a 
facility of apprehension not attained. But the disci- 
pline of the Bible class is one of the most efficient means 
of mental culture ever employed. Every faculty is 
roused, and placed in requisition. The judgment, the 
memory, and the power of attention are vigorously 
exercised, and progressively strengthened. Where 



141 

these classes are in operation, sermons are now heard 
with a listening ear, and, in many cases, by the grace 
of God, with a susceptible heart. The young people, 
having learned in the Bible class to love their minister, 
as well as to understand him, consider themselves as 
personally concerned, and as personally addressed, when 
he dispenses the word of life. 

"4. Young persons will be qualified foi the important 
engagements of Sabbath School Teachers. 

" It is in the highest degree desirable, that the chil- 
dren in Sabbath schools should spend their time on the 
Lord's Day, as much as possible, in obtaining the 
elements of the knowledge of Christ, and not in the 
merely preparatory task of learning to read. It is 
equally important that their teachers should themselves 
be taught of God, and qualified to teach the children 
the way of salvation. Let, then, the teachers form a 
part of the senior Bible classes : and having been first 
instructed and examined by the minister, on a portion 
of the word of God, let the teachers, in their respective 
classes, explain that passage to the children. If they 
have also the aid of such a book as ' Judson's Scripture 
Questions, 5 it will be found to render very valuable 
assistance. 

" Without dwelling at greater length on the advan- 
tages which may be anticipated from such a course of 
Bible education, will it not be readily conceded, that 
those already specified, present sufficient incentives to en- 
ter on the system recommended ? May it not be hoped; 
that God will graciously vouchsafe his special blessing 



142 

to labours such as these ? May they not be expected 
to contribute most powerfully to that revival of the power 
of vital religion, which many ministers and churches 
so ardently desire, so earnestly implore ? Let holy 
diligence be combined with humble dependence, and 
persevering supplications, and what may we not expect ? 
4 Prove me now herewith, (we may regard the Lord 
as saying to us,) and see if I will not pour out a blessing, 
so that there shall not be room enough to receive it !" 
It is no new experiment. It has been tried with in- 
creasing success in Scotland and in America, and, more 
recently, by ministers and private Christians among 
ourselves."* 

XVI. 

Endeavour to regulate^ on principles which an 
enlightened conscience will approve^ the time devo 
ted to Pastoral Visits and Friendly Intercourse. 

"There are two things," says Dr. Mason, in his 
Discourse on resigning his pastoral charge at New 
York, " in which the state of the churches now, differs 
materially from their state in primitive times. In the 
first place, they had inspired teachers ; who could, 
therefore, spend the whole week in exhorting, confirm- 
ing, and consoling their converts, without infringing on 
their preparations for the Lord's day. Our situation is 

Address of the Committee of the Sunday School Union to Ministers 
of the Gospel, (written by the Author at their request.) 



143 

quite different : close and habitual study are necessary 
for us. And if we cannot get time to attend to it, our 
ministrations grow uninteresting, and our congrega- 
tions lean. In the next place, the primitive churches 
never permitted themselves to suffer for want of la- 
bourers. Our economical plan is, to make one pastor do 
the work which was anciently done by three or four, 
and the very natural consequence follows ; — the work 
is badly done, or the workman is sacrificed. — If we 
were to visit as much as our people are good enough to 
wish, and unreasonable enough to expect, we should 
not have an hour left for our proper business ; we could 
make no progress in the knowledge of the scriptures ; 
and not one would be able to preach a sermon worthy 
of a sensible man's hearing." 

The primary objects of pastoral sympathy are the 
sick and the afflicted. Frequently repeated must be 
visits to those whom trouble has brought more feeling- 
ly to need, and more anxiously to desire, the instruc- 
tions or consolations of divine truth; and whether 
they be rich or poor ; whether they have been friendly 
or unkind ; they are equally the objects of the most 
tender fidelity and persevering solicitude. 

When these visits have been paid, the diligent 
pastor will endeavour to exercise a wise and kind 
superintendence over the rest of his flock. If his visits 
can neither be so frequent nor so protracted as might be 
wished, it will be an object of his anxious desire to 
ascertain the spiritual state, and to advance, by every 
possible method, the spiritual prosperity, of the people 
of his charge. 



144 

It is advisable to allot a certain portion of time to the 
work of pastoral visiting. That allotment should be 
made with an enlightened and conscientious regard to 
all the claims of ministerial duty. In most cases it 
will probably be found that portions of time, amount- 
ing in extent to, at least, one entire day in every week, 
will be indispensably necessary for this purpose ; and 
if more than this can be given, without neglecting 
other duties, the result, by the blessing of God, may 
prove incalculably beneficial. 

Dr. Cotton Mather was accustomed to devote one or 
two afternoons every week to this pastoral occupation, 
and usually to pay four or five visits in the course of a 
long afternoon. After addressing the various members 
of the family, according to their ages and relations, he 
frequently proposed to the younger branches of the 
family, when about to take leave of them, questions 
such as these, for their subsequent consideration in 
retirement :— "What have I been doing since I came 
into the world, about the great errand upon which God 
sent me into the world ?~If God should now call me 
out of the world, what would become of me through- 
out eternal ages ? — Have I ever yet by faith presented 
my perishing soul to the Lord Jesus, for righteousness 
and salvation V Such was the success of this eminent 
servant of God, that even in the first year of his mi- 
nistry, he had reason to believe that he was made the 
instrument of converting at least thirtjrsouls ! 

u He that has the happy talent of parlour preaching." 
^aid Di\ Watts, " has sometimes done more for Christ 



145 

and souls in the space of a few minutes, than by the 
labour of many hours and days in the usual course of 
preaching in the pulpit." 

The indefatigable Joseph Alleine, (with an intensity 
of effort which undermined his constitution and shorten- 
ed his life) was accustomed to devote five afternoons 
every week to pastoral visits : and " he often blessed 
God for the great success that he had in these exercise^ 
saying that God had made him as instrumental of good 
to souls this way, as by public preaching." 

The young minister who wishes to ascertain his 
duty as regards this difficult and momentous part of 
the pastoral charge, will consult his best interests by 
reading the awakening addresses of Baxter on this 
subject, in his Reformed Pastor. He urges with his 
accustomed energy, the motives which should induce 
ministers to the performance of this duty : he| answers 
all the objections which can be supposed to arise in the 
mind of a person disinclined to enter upon its discharge ; 
and he gives a variety of admirable directions for 
practical guidance. A few short passages I will here 
introduce. " This practice will be an excellent means 
of helping you in preaching. For as the physician's 
work is half done when he understands the disease, so, 
when you are well acquainted with your people's case, 
you will know what to preach on : and it will furnish you 
with matter for your sermons better than the study of 
many hours." — " This serious dealing with sinners for 
their salvation, will help you to far deeper apprehen- 
sions of the saving principles of religion, than you can 

13 



146 

get by any other means ; and a little more knowledge 
of these is worth all the other knowledge in the 
world." In reply to the objection that this duty is very 
laborious, he thus writes : — " What have we our time 
and strength for, but to lay them out for God ? What 
Is a candle made for, but to burn ? Burned and wasted 
we must be ; and is it not fitter it should be in lighting 
men to heaven, and in working for God, than in living 
to the flesh ? How little difference is there between the 
pleasure of a long and of a short life, when they are 
both at an end ? What comfort will it be to you at 
death, that you lengthened your life by shortening 
your work ? He that works much, lives much. Our 
life is to be esteemed according to the ends and works 
of it, and not according to the mere duration. Se- 
neca says of a drone, Ibijacet, non ibi vivzt ; et din 
fuit, non din vixit. Will it not comfort us more at 
death, to review a short time faithfully spent, than a 
long life spent unfaithfully ? As for visits and civilities, 
if they be of greater use than our ministerial employ- 
ments, you may forbear preaching for them, and you 
may also forbear this private work. But if it be other- 
wise, how dare you make them a pretence for neglect- 
ing so great a duty ? If you yet seek to please men. 
you are no longer the servants of Christ, He that dare 
spend his life in flesh-pleasing, and man-pleasing, is 
bolder than I am. And he that dare waste his time in 
compliments, doth little consider what he hath to do 
with it. O that I could but improve my time, according 
Jo my convictions of the necessity of improving it 1 He 



147 

that hath looked death in the face as oft as I have done. 
I will not thank him if he value his time. I profess 
I wonder at those ministers, who have time to spare for 
recreations two or three hours, yea, whole days together, 
that can sit an hour together in vain discourse, and 
spend whole days in complimental visits, and journeys 
to such ends." 

In many of the late revivals of religion in the 
American Churches, Family Visitation has been found 
eminently useful ; by which is meant " visiting a family 
for the express purpose of religious inquiry, in order to 
ascertain the religious state of the heads of the family, 
and of every member ; the amount of their Bible 
knowledge, and the manner in which they perform 
their acknowledged duties : and especially to ascertain 
whether or not they are seeking God. The visit is 
purely pastoral ; and as it is by no means considered 
requisite for the physician to travel all round the circle 
of general topics before he can venture to allude to the 
purposes of his visits, so neither is this deemed necessary 
for the minister ; he feels at liberty to enter at once 
upon inquiries relating to the soul. These inquiries 
are often put in the plainest and most pointed form to 
the individual alone, and no evasion is permitted. If 
the question be put, Are you living in the habit of 
prayer ? and the answer be evasive — it would imme- 
diately be followed by the plain question, — " Did you 
pray this morning? Had you communion with God ? ;: 
Worldly conversation, perplexing inquiries, doctrinal 
disputes, find no place ; the only subject is the applica- 
tion of the great doctrine of salvation to the conscience^ 



148 

of the hearers according to their capacities and attain 
ments.* 

XVII, 

Cultivate, %oith daily solicitude, Spirituality of 
Mind. 

"They that are after the flesh," observes the apostle,* 
" do mind the things of the flesh ; but they that are 
after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be 
carnally minded is death ; but to be spiritually minded 
is life and peace." As a christian, your personal 
concern, and as a minister, your professional concern, 
is with " the things of the Spirit ; " what then can be 
more out of character, — what can be more obstructive 
to comfort or to usefulness, than the prevalence of a 
carnal mind ? It will generate an inaptitude for all 
the elevated and spiritual duties of the sacred office, 
and render irksome those engagements of the study 
and of the pulpit, which ought to be highly pleasura- 
ble. Let there be, on the contrary, that habit of mind 
which is a combination of "life and peace," and the 
avocations of the christian ministry will become ele- 
ments of the purest delight. With all the energy and 
excitement of the noblest "life," there will be blended 
the serene composure of the truest "peace," even "'the 
peace which passeth all understanding, which is able 
to keep the heart and mind" from all which would 
disturb and annoy. 

* See Facts and Documents appended to the Author's Pastoral Dis 
courses on Revivals, &c, 



149 

"There are various characteristics," observes Mr. 
Cecil, " of a spiritual mind. A spiritual mind turns 
to God, as the needle to the pole. A spiritual mind 
maintains converse with God. It looks to God for 
wisdom for the day, for the hour, for the business in 
hand. It refers its affairs to God.— It has something of 
the nature of the sensitive plant. There is a holy 
shrinking from evil. — A spiritual mind is a mortified 
mind. The church of Rome talks much of mortifi 
cation, but her mortification is not radical and spiritual, 
Simon Stylites will willingly mortify himself on his 
pillar, if he can bring people around him to pray to 
him to pray for them. But the spiritual mind must 
mortify itself in whatever would retard its ascent 
toward heaven : it must rise on the wings of faith and 
hope and love. A spiritual mind is a sublime mind 
It has a vast and extended view. It has seen the glory 
and beauty of Christ, and cannot therefore admire, as 
others, the goodliness of things seen and temporal ; 
even as Christ himself, says Fenelon, had seen his 
Father's house, and could not therefore be captivated 
with the glory of the earthly temple ! " " Whenever,'' 
said Mi*. Henry Martyn, "I can say, 'thy will be done, 
teach me to do thy will, O God, for thou art my God.' 
it is like throwing ballast out of an air-balloon, my 
soul ascends immediately, and light and happiness 
shine around me." 

Eminently distinguished by spirituality of mind was 
Mr. Fletcher of Madely. " He appeared," says Mr, 
Ctilpin, " to enjoy an uninterrupted fellowship with the 

13* 



150 

Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. Every day was 
with him a day of solemn self-dedication, and every 
hour an hour of praise or prayer. — He was familiar with 
invisible objects, and constantly w T alked as in the pre- 
sence of God. To those who were much conversant 
with him, he appeared as an inhabitant of a better world ; 
so perfectly dead was he to the enjoyments of the present 
life, and so wholly detached from its anxious cares." 

Would you then cherish and maintain a divine spiri 
tuality of mind ? Would you live under the power of the 
world to come 1 Would you cultivate the feelings which 
give most valuable excitement to ttie intellectual energies 
required in the discharge of the christian ministry ? 
Surrender, then, your inner man, your whole soul, to 
the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Yield yourselves in 
mind and heart to his life-giving and peace-inspiring 
influences. Aspire daily to the honour and delight of 
being the i Temple of the Holy Ghost.' Remember 
that as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are 
the sons of God ; but that if any man (whether in 
public or private station) have not the Spirit of Christ, 
he is none of his." 

Happy is the minister whose habitual state of mind 
resembles that of the excellent Cotton Mather, as 
exhibited in the following extract from his private 
papers : — 

" The thoughts of Christ," says he, " are become 
exceedingly frequent with me ; I meditate on his 
glorious person, as the eternal and the incarnate Son of 
God ; and I behold the infinite God as coming to me ; 



151 

and meeting with me, in this blessed Mediator. I fly 
to him on multitudes of occasions every day, and am 
impatient if many minutes have passed without some 
recourse to him. 

" Every now and then, I rebuke myself for having 
been so long without any thoughts of my lovely 
Saviour. How can I bear to keep at such a distance 
from him ! 1 then look up to him, and say, O my 
Saviour, draw near unto me ! O come to dwell in my 
soul, and help me to cherish some thoughts wherein 1 
shall enjoy thee. 

" Upon this I set myself to think of his glories, his 
merits, his pattern, his maxims ; what he has done, 
and what he will do for us. I find the subject inex- 
haustible. And after I have been thus employed in 
the day, I fall asleep at night in the midst of some 
meditation on the glory of my Savour ; so i I fall asleep 
in Jesus,' and when I awake in the night, I do 'on my 
bed seek him whom my soul loveth.' The desires of my 
soul still carry me to him who was last in my thoughts 
when I fell asleep. 

" I find that where Christ comes, a wondrous light, 
life, and peace come with him, together with strength 
to go through service and sufferings. The holiness and 
happiness to which I am introduced by this way of 
living, is better to me than all the enjoyments of this 
world. No affluence of worldly Wealth, no, nor any 
advances in learning, and improvement in my know- 
ledge of the sciences, could transport me so much. 

tf The blessedness of the heavenlv world lies in cm 



152 

being with Christ; and by being with the Lord 
and beholding his glory, by believing and affecting 
thoughts of him, I have enjoyed a sort of heaven upon 
earth. The light and peace, the joy, strength, and 
purity with which this fills my mind, are an earnest 
and foretaste of heaven. 

"How many, O Lord, are my thoughts of Thee ! the 
occasions on which, and the means by which I cherish 
such thoughts, cannot be reckoned up in order. 

" When I see any thing excellent in any man, it 
leads my thoughts to the superior excellencies of Christ 
my Saviour ; and when I behold the miseries of any of 
my fellow-creatures, I think on the miseries from which 
I am delivered by my Saviour ; and on my obligations 
to my kind deliverer. I dare not let my mind be idle, 
as I walk in the streets ; I rebuke myself, and I make 
my moan to Heaven, if I have gone many steps 
without one thought of my Saviour. 

XVIII. 

Cultivate and display Christian Zeal for the 
general interests of true Religion^ both at home and 
abroad. 

With all the feelings of pastoral solicitude, never let 
the christian minister circumscribe his desires or his 
exertions, by the limits of his own peculiar sphere- 
Let him feel, not as an insulated being, labouring in b. 
detached part of the vineyard of his Lord, regardless of 
his fellow-labourers who are employed with equal dili 



153 

gence in other scenes of exertion ; but let him feel a 
lively interest in the efforts and the successes of all, who 
aim at the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom. 
Let him sedulously endeavour to excite and to maintain, 
in full vigour, the same spirit of benevolent activity 
among the people of his charge. By stimulating them 
to uime in doing good, he will direct them to the most 
effectual means of gaining good. He will most 
assuredly promote their own prosperity, by animating 
their zeal and liberality in aid of the cause of bibles, 
and the cause of missions, and the cause of schools, and 
the cause of tracts, and all the methods of doing good. 
on a larger or a smaller scale, which fall within the 
limits of their means and opportunities. Much of pasto- 
ral wisdom consists in giving full and steady and well- 
directed excitement, to the various classes in the church 
and congregation, who may be actively and appro- 
priately employed, in the various departments of chris- 
tian benevolence. 

In the midst, however, of all his public engagements, 
let not the young minister venture to extend, without 
due consideration and needful restriction, his pledges of 
personal attendance on the meetings of benevolent 
and religious societies. A senior minister, whose mind 
is enriched with ample resources for efforts which habit 
has progressively facilitated, may, with impunity, make 
a sacrifice of hours and days, which a junior minis- 
ter would make, at the hazard of his peace, of his 
health, and of his usefulness. Time, and time in 
large and unbroken portions, he must secure, for the 



154 

acquirement and communication of scriptural know 
ledge, unless he would abandon at once the hope and 
the effort of making progress in the lofty and difficult 
attainments of pulpit excellence. " The habit I 
recommend," said Dr. Paley, in his Charge to the 
younger clergy, " as the foundation of almost all the 
good ones, is retirement. Learn to live alone.* On 
the well proportioned union of retired aiad diligent 
study, with social intercourse and public engagements, 
depends, in no small degree, the efficiency as well as 
the happiness of the pastor's life. 

An extraordinary and most admirable specimen of 
zeal, assiduity and success in doing good, is exhibited 
in the life of Dr. Cotton Mather, 

"It was the great delight of his whole life to do 
good. His heart was set upon it ; he did not therefore 
content himself with merely embracing opportunities 
of doing good that occasionally offered, but he every 
now and then set apart some time on purpose to devise 
good ; and he seldom came into any company without 
having this directly in his view. 

"It was constantly one of his first thoughts in the 
morning, 'What good may I do this day V And that 
he might more certainly attend to the various branches 
of so large and comprehensive a duty, he resolved this 
general question. What good shall I do ? into several 
particulars, one of which he took into consideration, 
while he was dressing himself, every morning ; and as 
goon as he came into his study, he set down some 
brief hints of his meditations upon it. He had ordi- 
narily a distinct question for each morning in the week. 



155 

•His question for the Lords-day morning constantly 
was, 'What shall I do as a pastor of a church, for the 
good of the flock under my charge? 5 Upon this he 
considered what subjects were most suitable and sea- 
sonable for him to preach on ; what families of his 
flock were to be visited, and with what particular view ; 
and how he might make his ministry*still more accept- 
able and useful. 

"His question for Monday morning was, 'What 
shall I do for the good of my own family?' Here he 
considered himself as a husband, a father, and a mas- 
ter. He contrived how he might best promote the 
spiritual edification of his consort ; as what good books 
he should put into her hands to read, howpie fshould 
order his prayers for her and with her, when they 
were praying together by themselves in his study; and 
what hints might be proper for him to give her, for her 
edification. He considered what parts of the educa- 
tion of his children were to be chiefly pursued, and by 
what means; and what admonitions or instructions 
were proper to be given to his servants, that so he and 
his whole house might fear the Lord. 

" His common question for Tuesday morning was. 
•What good shall I do for my relations abroad?' of 
whom he kept a list by him, as far as to the children 
of his cousins-german. He considered what he should 
pray for, in behalf of each of them ; and what advi- 
ces and seasonable admonitions would be proper. for 
him to give any of them, either by word of mouth, or 
by writing ; or what books of piety he should put into 
their hands, 



156 

" His stated question for Wednesday morning was- 
- What good shall I do for the churches of the Lord, and 
the more general interests of religion in the world V 
For this end he considered what proposals for the ad- 
vancement of religion he could make to other ministers : 
what books might be proper for him to write and 
publish ; and by what means he might help to spread 
the 6 savour of the knowledge of Christ,' far and wide 
in the world. 

" His question for Thursday morning was c What 
good may I do in the several societies to which I am 
related V For he was connected with more than 
twenty societies of a religious nature, several of which 
were formed by him, and all of them were, in some 
measure, under his patronage and care. 

" The question ftit Friday morning was constantly 
this, c What special subject of affliction, and objects of 
compassion, may I take under my particular care ; 
and what shall I do for them V Upon this he turned 
his thoughts to the poor of his flock, of whom he kept 
a distinct catalogue, and to any other persons that he 
knew of, who were either in outward affliction, or spi- 
ritual trouble. He would single out one of these afflicted 
cases, to be particularly considered on this morning, 
that he might contrive the best means he could for 
their relief and comfort. 

"His Saturday morning's question related more 
immediately to himself, and to the concerns of his own 
soul. It was, c What more have I to do for the nte- 
rest of God in my own heart and life V Upon this he 
would set himself to recollect^ what sins he had com 



157 

mitled, and what mercies he had received ; and to con- 
sider what consequent obligations he was under to serve 
and honour God, to the utmost of his capacity and 
power. He would consider also how much it concern- 
ed him to be what he exhorted others to be, and to 
experience that divine life in his own soul, which he re- 
commended to others in his sermons or his writings ; 
and on this account he would sometimes, especially on 
the Lord's-day evening, read some of his own books of 
devotion, in order to impress his own heart afresh 
with the sentiments contained in them." 

The following directions for doing good are taken 
(with some abridgment) from " The New York Ob 
server" 

1. Watch for opportunities. 

2. Carefully select your objects. 

3. Do every day what belongs to the day. 

4. When you gain an advantage, follow it up, 

5. What you do, " do with your might." 

6. Attempt great things. 

7. Undertake not too much. 

XIX. 

Propose to yourself as a Models the character of 
the Apostle Paul. 

Great advantages will arise from studying the lives 
of eminent christians, and especially of eminent minis- 
ters. Their biography will be replete with powerful 
excitements to diligence, to devotion, to humility tol 

14 



158 

zeal. While it cannot fail to operate upon the mind 
with the power of an energetic stimulus, it will also sug- 
gest practical hints of the highest value, adapted to 
assist " the man of God" in his unwearied efforts to 
become "thoroughly furnished unto every good work." 
But if signal advantages may be secured by familiarity 
with the lives of such men as Philip Henry, and Cotton 
Mather, and Martyn, and Scott, what shall be said of 
the benefits accruing from the frequent study of the 
most eminent of all the servants of God in lofty attain- 
ment and wide-spreading usefulness — f : the Apostle of 
the Gentiles!" " Next to our Lord Jesus Christ" (ob- 
serves Dr. Mason, than whom no man living is better 
qualified to appreciate or to pourtray the character in 
question,) " the name which figures most gloriously 
in the early stages of the christian story, is that of the 
Apostle Paul. The grandeur of his mind, his intellec- 
tual and moral magnanimity, his heroic devotion, his 
patience in suffering ; his powerful genius, his decision, 
his eloquence, his zeal, shine in every page of his 
writings, raise the admiration and awe the spirits of 
his readers, and make them feel that they enter into 
communion with a being of a superior order. But it is 
not that peculiar greatness which was inseparable from 
every act of the man, and excites our veneration while 
it forbids our rivalship, that creates our deepest interest 
in his character. Our understandings may be pene- 
trated with light which has no power of warming our 
hearts. The most profound respect does not necessarily 
call forth our love. Our affections must be won ; they 



159 

cannot be stormed. To this principle of our nature, 
God has been pleased to pay particular regard, in the 
first heralds of the cross. However diversified their 
qualities and attainments — whatever be the zeal of one, 
the potency of argument in another, the intrepid cour- 
age of a third, that which bears the sway in all is their 
loveliness. Our hearts are captivated by the same 
process which subdues our understandings. Nothing, 
for example, can be more fair and unanswerable, than 
when Paul closes in his argument with the subtle philo- 
sopher; nothing more terrible than when he deals out the 
thunders of God among the gainsayers ; and nothing 
more exquisitely tender, than his carriage toward the 
timid and scrupulous disciple. If ever a man knew 
how to wind his way into the human soul — how to 
coil around him its most sacred affections — how to ex- 
plore the secret place of tears, and to put in motion all 
its kindest sympathies, the Apostle Paul was certainly 
that man." 

The frequent and admiring contemplation of such a 
character can scarcely fail to produce a salutary effect 
on the mind of a christian minister. It is true that 
an exact imitation is impracticable. He who is best 
prepared to enter into the views and feelings of the 
great Apostle, will be most deeply conscious of an 
inferiority of mind and soul no less than of office : but 
still an elevation of sentiment, a purity of motive, a 
dignity of character, a benevolence of feeling, an 
ardour of enterprise, may be expected to grow out of 
the habitual contemplation and study of so glorious 



160 

and so finished a character. It cannot but be benefi 
cial to a minister, and especially to a young minister, 
to press the inquiry upon his own mind ;— How would 
the Apostle Paul have acted, had he been placed in 
my present sphere, and surrounded by all the circum- 
stances which give a character to my condition and 
my engagements ? The mind which accustoms itself 
to such an inquiry will become incapable of any thing 
mean or selfish or temporising or artful : it will learn 
to say in the words of its admired exemplar — " Our 
rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that 
in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly 
wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our 
conversation in the world, and more abundantly to 
you-ward. — Herein do I exercise myself to have 
always a conscience void of offence, towards God and 
towards men." 

The character of the Apostle Paul, observes Mr. 
Cecil, was " a combination of zeal and love. The 
zeal of some men is of a haughty, unbending, fero- 
cious character. They have the letter of truth, but 
they mount the pulpit like prize fighters. It is with 
them a perpetual scold. This spirit is a reproach to 
the gospel. It is not the spirit of Jesus Christ. He 
seems to have laboured to ivin men. But there is an 
opposite extreme. The love of some men is all milk 
and kindness ! There is so much delicacy and so 
much fastidiousness ! They touch with such tender- 
ness ! — and if the patient shrinks, they will touch no 
more ! The times are too flagrant for such a disposi 



161 

lion. The gospel is sometimes preached in this way, 
till all the people agree with the preacher. He gives 
no offence and he does no good ! But St. Paul united 
and blended love and zeal. He must win souls ; but 
he will labour to do this by all possible lawful contri- 
vances. ' I am made all things to all men, that I might 
by all means save someJ Zeal alone may degenerate 
into ferociousness and brutality ; and love alone into 
fastidiousness and delicacy : but the Apostle combined 
both qualities ; and more perfectly than other men. 
realized the union of the fortiter in re with the snavi- 
ter in modoP 

xx. 

Guard against every approach to a sectarian- 
and party spirit ; and cherish the feeling of chris 
Han love to all who embrace the faith and " adorn 
the doctrine n of the Gospel, 

Let your whole heart echo the sentiment of the be- 
nignant Apostle — u Grace be with all them who love 
our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." A regard to the 
subordinate as well as to the essential interests of truth, 
will necessarily compel you to regret, that on some 
points not unimportant, the views and practice of some 
appear to you wanting in scriptural accuracy or sim- 
plicity. To these points you may deem it a sacred 
duty, on suitable occasions, to direct the attention of 
the people of your charge. But this can surely be 

effected, without a spirit of acrimonv, and without the 

14* 



162 

language of invective. This is surely compatible with 
the spirit of christian candor and christian forbearance 
to those who differ in opinion. Be assured that the 
more perfect and the more intimate is your acquain- 
tance with excellent and useful men of other denomi- 
nations, the greater will be your delight on discovering, 
that the points of attraction outnumber and overpower 
the points of repulsion ; and that real differences 
present an aspect much less formidable than those 
which are imaginary. You will acquire the equitable 
and desirable habit of realizing their circumstances 
and placing yourselves in their situation ; and of 
asking your own hearts, what, in all probability, would 
have been your predilections and prejudices, had you 
been descended of such parents, and educated in such 
schools, and trained in such habits, and accustomed to 
such society. It is not difficult to perceive, that the 
result of these ideal transfers of yourself into their 
former or present situations, will greatly dispose the 
mind to put a candid construction on opinions which 
quadrate not with your own, and which you still regard 
as inaccurate and misguided. Let a man be once 
aware of the defects of many of his own processes of 
reasoning, on subjects which call forth his partialities or 
his antipathies ; let him be once aware of the extent 
to which he is himself indebted to education and early 
habits, even for some of his most correct opinions on 
subjects not essential ; and his own lieart will become 
a powerful monitor, to caution him against the unrea- 
sonableness of withholding his brotherly regards from 



163 

those whose opinions are nearly, if not precisely, what 
his own would have been under similar circumstances. 

XXI. 

Do full justice to the talents and excellencies of 
other Ministers, without the spirit of rivalry or 
jealously. 

There are not a few preachers of the gospel in the 
present day, among different denominations of chris- 
tians, whose talents are not only eminent by the order 
of intellect to which they belong, but also in a high 
degree attractive and commanding. If the considera- 
tion of this naturally affords pleasure to the mind of 
the hearer of the gospel, should it not afford at least- 
equal delight to the mind of the preacher of the gospel ? 
Should he not unfeignedly rejoice, that the truth which 
saves the soul is exhibited with greater power of argu- 
ment, or with greater felicity of illustrations, or with 
greater warmth of pathos, than he himself is able to 
display ? Instead of unworthy and ungenerous attempts 
to detract from the eloquence and excellence ascribed 
to those who are high in public estimation, ought he 
not to rejoice in the popularity attendant on captivating 
talents, when those talents are employed in advocating 
the cause of Christ ? It is an indication of a mean and 
ignoble spirit, to betray an habitual reluctance to 
acknowledge and to admire superior abilities on the 
part of others. It is most unworthy of a minister of 
Christ, to betray the slightest approach tQ a spirit of 



164 

jealousy and rivalry. This spirit is generally found to 
reside either in little and contracted minds, fearfully ap- 
prehensive of the consequences which may result from 
a comparison with superior talents ; or in vain and am- 
bitious minds, aspiring to the highest degree of public 
applause, and tremblingly alive at the appearance of 
other candidates, whose eloquence may be thought 
more brilliant than their own. If the detection of such 
unamiable and unchristian jealousy, must greatly low- 
er the estimation in which any one is held, the con- 
sciousness of any secret tendencies to its indulgence, 
should produce the deepest humiliation in the presence 
of that God, to whom every hidden working of the heart 
is distinctly known. " This tendency," observes the 
judicious author of ' Sketches of Human Nature,' " of- 
ten forms an excellent though secret test, by which 
preachers may try the purity of the motives by which 
they are influenced. There is no poison more subtile 
than this. Its operation must have proceeded a great 
length indeed, before it becomes apparent to others ; 
but it may insinuate itself into the mind, and m a cer- 
tain degree exist and work much disturbance there, 
though the person who feels it has sense enough to 
conceal it. Can you, then, cordially rejoice, though 
you see others not only excelling you in gifts, but ma- 
king more rapid progress than you in the improvement 
of their gifts? If not, there is evidently something 
wrong. There is deep cause for humiliation, and much 
to be corrected.'' 

u O that ever it should be said," exclaims Mr. Baxter, 



165 

" of godly ministers, that they are so set upon popular 
air, and of sitting highest in men's estimation that they 
envy the talents and names of their brethren, who are 
preferred before them, as if all were taken from their 
praise, that is given to another ; and as if God had 
given them his gifts, to be the mere ornaments and trap- 
pings of their persons, that they may walk as men of re- 
putation in the world, and as if all his gifts to others were 
to be trodden down and vilified, if they seem to stand in 
the way of their honour ! What ! a saint— a preacher 
of Christ, and yet envy that which hath the image of 
Christ, and malign his gifts for which he should have 
the glory, and all because they seem to hinder our 
glory ! Is not every true Christian a member of the 
body of Christ, and therefore, a partaker of the blessings 
of the whole, and of each particular member thereof? 
and doth not every man owe thanks to God for his 
brethren's gifts, not only as having himself a part in 
them, as the foot hath the benefit of the guidance of 
the eye ; but also because his own ends may be obtain- 
ed, by his brethren's gifts, as well as by his own ;— for 
if the glory of God, and the church's felicity, be not his 
end, he is not a Christian. Will any workman malign 
another, because he helpeth him to do his master's 
work. Yet, alas ! how common is this heinous crime 
among the members of Christ ! They can secretly 
blot the reputation of those that stand in the way of their 
own : and what they cannot for shame do in plain and 
open terms lest they be proved liars and slanderers, they 
will do in generals, and by malicious intimations, rais- 



166 

ing suspicions where they cannot fasten accusations. 
And some go so far that they are unwilling that any 
one who is abler than themselves should come into 
their pulpits, lest they should be more applauded than 
themselves." 

XXII. 

Deem it not justifiable for a Christian Pastor to 
indulge, beyond certain limits, in the pursuits of 
Literature and Science. 

"I have had some little taste," said Dr. Doddridge, 
to his brethren in the ministry, "of the pleasures of 
literature, and have some reasons to hope I shall 
not be suspected of any prejudice against it : but I must 
freely say, that I fear many things, which employ a 
very large portion of our retired time, are studied rather 
as polite amusements to our own minds, than as things 
which seem to have an apparent subserviency to the 
glory of God, and the edification or our flock ; and 
consequently, I fear they will stand as articles of abate- 
ment, if I may so express it, in our final account ; and 
when they come to be made manifest, will be found 
works that shall be burnt, as being no better, in the 
divine esteem, than wood, hay and stubble, how beauti- 
fully soever they may have been varnished or gilded 
over. Oh ! my brethren, let us consider how fast we 
are posting through this dying life, into the immediate 
presence of our Lord ! You must judge for yourselves : 
but permit me to say, that for my own part, I would 



167 

not, for ten thousand worlds, be that man, who, when 
God shall ask him at last, how he has employed most 
of his time, while he continued a minister in his church, 
and had the care of souls, should be obliged to reply, 
•Lord, I have restored many corrupted passages in the * 
ancient classics, and illustrated many which were before 
obscure; I have cleared up many intricacies in chro- 
nology or geography ; I have solved many perplexed 
cases in algebra ; I have refined on astronomical calcu- 
lations ; and left behind me many sheets on these curious 
and difficult subjects : and these are the employments in 
which my life has been worn out, while preparations 
for the pulpit, or the ministrations in it, did not demand 
my immediate attendance !" 

"When reflecting in illness on my past years," said 
Mr. Cecil, " I have looked back with self-reproach on 
days spent in my study. I was wading through his- 
tory and poetry, and monthly journals ; but I was in my 
study ! Another* man's trifling is notorious to all ob- 
servers; but what am /doing? — Nothings perhaps, that 
has a reference to the spiritual good of my congregation ! 
I do not speak against a chastised attention to literature, 
but the abuse of it." — " I have used large libraries, but 
I soon left them. Time was frittered away ; my mind 
was unconcentrated. The usual contents of such 
libraries are injurious to a spiritual man, whose business 
is to transact with men's minds. They have a dry, 
cold, deadening effect." 

Such remarks as these, by men so enlightened and 
so conscientious, have strong claims on the consideration 



168 

of the young minister. It will not, however, be difficult 
for him to draw the line of distinction between that 
unwarrantable consumption of time in the pleasures 
and pursuits of literature, of which no good account can 
be rendered at the last great day, and that occasional 
occupation of hours and moments, not demanded by 
ministerial duties, by which the mind may be relieved 
and recreated, as well as enriched and refined. When 
the distribution of time and studies proceeds on right 
principles, every day will be found to have its serious 
duties ; and its duties must take precedence of its plea- 
sures. If indeed the mind be trained by habits of 
salutary discipline, it will not be capable of yielding 
itself to the recreation of literary pleasures, until it feels 
entitled to unbend, by previous attention to severer 
studies, or by the diligent performance of other incum- 
bent duties. 

XXIII. 

Suffer not the pressure of Public Engagements 
to contract xmduly the exercises of Private Devotion, 

"A man can receive nothing except it be given him 
of God." What success then can the christian minis- 
ter be warranted to expect, either in his studies, or in 
his visits, or in his public discourses, unless he devoutly 
and earnestly seek the blessing of Him on whom all 
depends? How mistaken then and short-sighted are 
the views, which would lead him to depend much on his 
intellectual efforts, and little on his devotional exercis- 



169 

es :— which would induce him to prolong the former, 
hy unduly curtailing the latter ! Although we are not 
to be heard by the Father of Mercies, by virtue of vain 
repetitions, yet it is to fervent, persevering, and impor- 
tunate prayer, that spiritual blessings are promised. 
Might not our prayers be much more fervent, were our 
minds and hearts yielded more vigorously, and for a 
more ample portion of our time, to the devotional read- 
ing of the Word of God, to the musings and meditation* 
which the Scriptures are calculated to suggest, and to 
the direct efforts of the heart to enjoy intimate commun- 
ion with our God ? Ought we not to feel the excitement 
and encouragement, arising from the numerous promise? 
which the Scriptures contain, of the gift of the Holy 
Spirit ? Are we not greatly wanting in wisdom, when 
we do not plead these promises with the utmost ardour 
of soul, and the most lively confidence of faith? 
What was it which gave to the apostles of the Saviour, 
and to the primitive propagators of the gospel, their 
peculiar elevation cf spirit, and sanctity of character, 
and success in exertion ; and what is it which has 
produced the eminent piety and extensive usefulness of 
uninspired ministers, of more recent periods, and of 
Our own day, but the copious effusion of divine influ 
6nces — the unction of the Holy Spirit ? Let then the 
minister of the sanctuary daily and earnestly ask it ; 
and he shall receive it ; let him perseveringly seek it, 
and he shall obtain the heavenly gift ; for "if we 
being evil know how to give good gifts to our children. 

much more will our heavenly Father give the Holv 

15 



170 

Spirit to those who ask him. f "Let us remember that 
c God who cannot lie,' who will not encourage an 
unfounded expectation, is actually pledged to bestow 
the blessing. It is true, that before he gave the pro- 
mise, he was under no obligation to confer the stupen- 
dous benefit ; but having placed the promise on record, 
in the face of heaven and earth, every attribute of his 
character is pledged for its performance. Let us 
cherish the firm assurance, that prayer is the very 
means appointed for the attainment of the blessing. 
God himself has established the connexion between 
the means and the end ; it is therefore our duty and 
interest to realize that connexion. God might have 
given his Holy Spirit , had it so pleased him,Nvithout any 
intervention of prayer ; but such is not his pleasure. 
He requires the act— the reiteration — the importunity 
of prayer; and when he designs largely to bestow the 
gift, he excites the spirit of believing importunity. Let 
our supplication be 'the inwrought fervent prayer of 
the righteous man,' and assuredly we shall find that 
it 'availeth much.' " 

XXIV. 

Guard against Levity of Spirit and Demeanour? 

There have been times and sects, in which, among 
many christian ministers, gravity frequently approx- 
imated to austerity, and sometimes even to moroseness. 
Deeply to be regretted were such tendencies, because 
fhey present to the world an unamiable and repulsive 



171 

and therefore an incorrect exhibition of the religion of 
Jesus Christ. This is not however an evil against 
which it is particularly necessary to caution the young 
ministers of the present day. It is the opposite tendency 
which is often too powerfully operative. It is not 
always kept in mind, that the office of Pastor and 
Teacher in the church of Christ is a grave office, and 
that its duties are, from their very nature, ^rave and 
serious, involving, both on the part of the minister and 
of the hearers, the most awful and momentous respon- 
sibility. They " who watch for souls as those who 
must give an account," must surely appear out of 
character, whenever they are found chargeable with 
inconsiderate levity. There is an obvious and palpable 
incongruity in this, which cannot fail to strike the 
observer, and to lessen the degree of that moral influ- 
ence of incalculable value, which the character and 
deportment of a minister should empower him to exert 
over the minds of his hearers. Who can calculate the 
degree in which the impression of discourses from the 
pulpit is, on the one hand, deepened, or on the other, 
enfeebled, by the estimate which the hearer almost 
unconsciously forms of the character of the preacher? 
Who can determine the extent to which the materials 
which enter into that estimate are derived from the 
hours of social and unbending intercourse ? Let those 
hours be illumined by the smile of christian cheerful- 
ness, benignity, and urbanity: let the manners of 
him who "ministers in holy things," recommend him 
to the more refined ; let his conversation command thg 



172 

respect of the more intelligent ; let his kindness endear 
him to the young ; but let there be no utterance of the 
heart, no indication of feeling which, if remembered in 
the sanctuary, would diminish the effect of the truth 
proceeding from his lips. Let it be the resolution of 
every one who enters on the engagements of the chris- 
tian ministry, that, relying on the aids and succours of 
heavenl^grace, he will never counteract in the parlour 
the effect of addresses from the pulpit. Let him indeed 
aim at something more than this negative character of 
social intercourse ; and difficult as is the attempt, and 
rare as is the attainment, and frequent a» may be his 
regret at failure, let him devotionally and diligently 
cultivate the habit enjoined by the Apostle—" Let your 
conversation be always with grace, seasoned with salt, 
that it may minister grace to the hearers." 

" A practical doctrine," says Mr. Baxter, " must be 
practically preached. We must study as hard how to 
live well, as how to preach well. We must think and 
think again, how to compose our lives, as may most 
tend to men's salvation, as well as our sermons. When 
you are studying what to say to your people, if you have 
any concern for their souls, you will be often thinking 
with yourself, ' How shall I get within them ? and what 
shall I say, that is most likely to convince them, and 
convert them, and promote their salvation V And should 
you not as diligently think with yourself, < How shall 
I live, and what shall I do, and how shall I dispose of 
all that I have, as may most tend to the saving of 
men's souls?' Brethren, if the salvation of souls te 



173 

your end, you will certainly intend it out of the pulpit 
as well as in it ! If it be your end, you will live for it 
and contribute all your endeavours to attain it. You 
will ask concerning the money in your purse, as well 
as concerning other means, 'In what way shall I lay 
it out for the greatest good, especially to men's souls? 5 
O that this were your daily study, how to use your 
wealth, your friends, and all you have for God as well 
as your tongues ! Then should we see that fruit of 
your labours, which is never otherwise likely to be seen. 
If you intend the end of the ministry, in the pulpit 
only, it would seem you take yourselves for ministers 
no longer than you are there. And, if so, I think you 
are unworthy to be esteemed ministers at all.' 5 

XXV. 

Cherish the strictest Purity of Thought, of Sen 
fimentj and of Demeanour. 

The holy Apostle, when writing to the holy Evan 
gelist, towards whom he cherished the strongest attach 
ment and the firmest confidence, deemed it important 
to say, with paternal solicitude, — "Flee also youthful 
lusts." Your safety when exposed to temptations of 
this character, lies in flight — speedy and determined 
and unhesitating flight. "Take the first hint from 
conscience, n and let her warning voice be to thee as 
the voice of God. Over the regions of imagination,, 
which open so many avenues to the heart, exercise 
the strictest vigilance, that not even a thought may 

15* 



174 

Singer or hover there, which could be subsequently 
traced by the slightest vestige of contamination. If 
this be your daily care, it will be easy to act under the 
advice thus administered by the venerable Abraham 
Booth. "Guard habitually against every appearance 
of imprudent and indelicate familiarity, even with the 
most virtuous and pious of your female friends. It is 
not even sufficient that conscience bears witness to the 
purity of your conduct, and the piety of your motives i 
for in matters of so delicate a nature, there should not 
be the least shadow of a ground, either to support sus- 
picion, or to excite surprise. There is need for us to 
watch and pray against the greatest sins — even against 
those to which, perhaps, we never perceived ourselves 
to be much inclined. — Of late," continues this exempla- 
ry minister, in a Pastoral Charge, " I have been much 
affected by the following reflection : — Though, if not 
greatly deceived, I have had some degree of experi- 
mental acquaintance with Jesus Christ for almost forty 
years ; though I have borne the ministerial character 
for upwards of twenty-five years j though I have been, 
perhaps, of some little use in the church of God ; and 
though I have had a greater share of esteem among 
religious people, than I had any reason to expect : 
yet, after all, it is possible for me, in one single hour of 
temptation, to blast my character — to ruin my public 
usefulness — and to render my warmest christian friends 
ashamed of owning me. Hold thou me up, O Lord, 
and I shall be safe ! Ah, brother, there is little reason 
for any of us to be high-minded ; and therefore, happy 
is the man that feareth always." 



175 

XXVI. 

Cultivate, and display, the most delicate sense of 
Honour, in all the inter tour ses of Life, 

In estimating the confidence which we are authorised 
to repose in the honour of any individual, we are ac- 
customed to take into view the rank he holds in society 
—the occupation in which he is engaged — the educa- 
tion he originally received — the habits of feeling in- 
duced by his pursuits and his connexion, and, above all 
the principles and sentiments with which his mind is 
imbued. If then we feel justified in placing depen- 
dence on the honour of a religious tradesman, of a 
christian merchant? — of one who combines the feelings 
of a gentleman with the feelings of a christian ; of what 
character ought to be the honour of a christian minister ? 
Ought it not to be characterized by the nicest and most 
unsullied delicacy ? Ought it not to be elevated far 
above the slightest ground of suspicion ? Ought it not 
to inspire with the firmest confidence every friend, every 
relative, every neighbour, every hearer ? Ought it not 
to diffuse around the minister of truth an atmosphere, 
in which friendship can freely breathe, and slander 
scarcely live ? Ought not the public teacher of religion 
to be a man " of good report among them that are 
without," and still more among them that are within 
the church ? Ought he not to afford a beauteous and 
an attractive exemplification of " whatever things are 
true and whatever things are honourable, and what- 
ever things are just, and whatever things aie pure. 



176 

and whatever things are lovely, and whatever things 
are of good report V 

From the commencement, then, to the termination 
of his pastoral career, let the christian minister display 
the most exquisite and unimpeachable honour. Let 
him be solicitous to redeem every pledge he has ever 
given, in public or in private. Let the confidential 
disclosures and communications poured into his pri- 
vate ear, and intrusted to his safe-keeping, be as 
secure from currency as before he was in possession of 
the confided statements. Let character and property 
and every valued deposit find in him a sanctuary far 
remote from all danger of spoliation. Let it be im- 
possible for any, without the utmost perverseness of 
intellect, or the grossest injustice of representation, to 
ascribe to him any injury affecting their fortunes, their 
families, or their reputation. Let the purest honour, 
guided by a conscience void of offence and enlightened 
by the Word of God, regulate his domestic economy — 
the settlement of all his pecuniary and secular transac- 
tions — and every form and species of his intercourse 
With his family, with his flock, and with society at 
large. 

If in every degree of social intercourse the christian 
minister should act on principles of honour, how inex- 
pressibly important is it, that these principles should 
regulate all approximations to intimacy with individu- 
als of the other sex, and especially such as may involve 
the tenderest and the strongest affections of the heart. 
'■' Some young ministers," it is observed by the author of 



177 

the valuable • Sketches of Human Nature,' " by paying 
particular attentions to young women, have led them 
to suppose, that they really intended to ask them in 
marriage, and yet when they had it in their power to 
marry, have paid their addresses to others ! The folly, 
however, (and in many cases the criminality, with 
which they were thus chargeable) has usually been fol- 
lowed by its own punishment. Their comfort has been 
greatly marred, by the consciousness of having most 
unguardedly trifled with the affections of one, w r hom 
they had reason to esteem ; and their usefulness has 
been impaired, by the story of such an attachment 
going abroad ; while, perhaps in the course of its circu- 
lation, many circumstances of aggravation are added, to 
establish the charge of cruelty and unfaithfulness. Let 
then christian ministers be especially on their guard 
against any language which can be fairly construed, as 
expressive of peculiar partiality, where they have no 
such meaning ; and where they are engaged, let the 
thought of every other individual be at once most entire- 
ly dismissed from their minds !" To act a contrary 
part is basely to trample on all the laws of honour both 
human and divine, and to forfeit all right and title to 
to the appellation of a man of honour both in the church 
and in the world; 

XXVII. 

Remember the pre-eminent importance of Pru- 
dence and discretion. 
Dr. Campbell has the following remarks in his 



178 

Lectures on the Pastoral Character. " The ancient 
saying, { Nullum numen abest si sit prudentia, 3 has a 
very important meaning. It holds also in the converse. 
6 Nullum numen adest, ni sit prudentia.' Or to give a 
christian turn to the sentiment, we may say, Every 
virtue will attain its end, when conducted by prudence : 
as, on the contrary, No virtue will answer its end, where 
prudence is wanting to direct it. Is not the same lesson 
in effect taught us, in more emphatic terms, by our 
blessed Lord, where he commands us to join the wisdom 
of the serpent to the innocence of the dove ? As the 
latter is necessary for preserving the former from 
degenerating into low cunning artifice, so the former 
is necessary to serve the latter both as a guide and as a 
guard." 

If there be any one profession or situation in life, in 
which more than in all others, prudence is essential, and 
in which more than in all others 3 indiscretion is pre- 
judicial, it is unquestionably that of the christian min- 
ister. He has intercourse with men of all classes, of all 
prejudices, and of all habits. He finds in every one of 
them a keen-eyed observer of his temper and conduct ; 
but by no means in every one of them a kind or a 
christian observer. He finds not a few arrogating to 
themselves the right of arraigning at the tribunal of 
their judgment, not only his public discourses, and his 
public conduct, but all his habits, all his plans, all his 
visits, and all his expressions. In the hours of social 
intercourse, amid the numerous recitals of the actions 
and the words of others, he is often appealed to for an 



H9 

opinion ; and that opinion, if ingenuously and un 
guardedly expressed, may itself be again and again 
employed as an instrument of incalculable evil, working 
dissension and alienation in the minds of those against 
whom it may be directed, without the knowledge or 
Intention of the speaker himself. " What manner of 
person then ought he to be in all holy conversation and 
godliness," and in all discretion and prudence; con- 
stantly on his guard to avoid even the slightest ap- 
pearance of evil! How much he needs the knowledge 
of his own heart— the knowledge of human nature in 
all its leading and characteristic varieties— and that 
degree of the knowledge of the world, which is to be 
attained without contracting its defilement ! How much 
he needs the sustaining influence of that conscious 
rectitude of principle, which will elevate him above 
the depressing influence of " idle words" and " hard 
speeches f and at the same time how much he needs 
that christian circumspection which will preserve him 
from offending, even in word, against the rules of the 
strictest propriety and the most delicate decorum ! Far 
be it from him to make the slightest approach to those 
slight and almost undefined boundaries, which separate 
imprudence from impropriety, and impropriety from 
criminality. With a humble and a prayerful mind, let 
him seek from the " Giver of every good and perfect 
gift," the grace by which "in all things he may adorn 
the doctrine of his God and Saviour." 



180 
XXVIII. 

Study and display that Courtesy^ which is the 
essence of true Politeness. 

There is much of truth and beauty in the following 
remarks of the late Dr. Thomas Brown, of Edinburgh. 
: * Politeness, in all its most important respects, is nothing 
more than the knowledge of the human mind direct- 
ing- general benevolence. It is the art of producing the 
greatest happiness, which in the mere external courtesies 
of life, can be produced ; by raising such ideas or feel- 
ings in the minds of those with whom we are conver- 
sant, as will afford the most pleasure ; and averting, as 
much as possible, every idea which may lead to pain. 
It implies, therefore, when perfect, a fine knowledge of 
the natural series of thoughts, so as to distinguish, not 
merely the thought which will be the immediate or 
near effect of what is said or done, but those which may 
arise still more remotely; and he is the most successful 
in this art of giving happiness, who sees the future at 
the greatest distance." 

That courtesy which true philosophy assists us to 
acquire, true religion commands us to display. "Be 
pitiful; be courteous" — are injunctions of apostolic 
authority ; and a practical regard to these precepts is 
of no small importance in the discharge of the christian 
ministry. Its object is to open the minds of men to 
receive and embrace the truth. The minister of the 
gospel is the advocate who pleads the cause of truth, 
and endeavours, by reasoning and persuasion, to over^ 



181 

come the proud reluctance of the human mind, to 
admit its humbling doctrines and sin-opposing precepts* 
Shall the pleader, then, at the bar of the human mind- 
set at defiance the laws of the human mind ; and in- 
stead of conciliating, by the kindness and courtesy of 
his address, shall he deepen prejudice, by all that has 
the aspect of being coarse and rude and vulgar and 
unfeeling ? Is it the part of wisdom or of goodness^ 
to inspire the disgust of those who are distinguished 
by education and refinement ; or to counteract, by 
cold repulsiveness of manners, in the hour of social 
intercourse, the effect produced by the display of 
talent, of fidelity, or of earnestness, in the hour of 
public ivorship ? Will the christian minister rise in 
reputation, or advance in the acquisition of moral influ- 
ence, by being deemed no fit companion for men of 
refinement, and men of family, and men of taste, and 
men of letters ? So deemed not that accomplished 
advocate of the cause of Christ, who was "all things 
to all men, that he might by all means save some.* 3 
Never was man more deeply versed in the knowledge 
of the ways which lead to the human heart j and 
never was man more disposed, by principle, and by 
feeling, to apply that knowledge to the benevolent 
purpose of opening the heart, even in its most hidden 
recesses, to the influence of the truth which saves and 
sanctifies. Who would attempt to portray the charac- 
ter of Paul — (or who would recognize the likeness, if 
attempted) — without the kindness and the gentleness^ 
and the suavity and the sympathy, which he himself 

16 



182 

copied from the model of absolute perfection ? Let 
then the young minister of the gospel of reconciliation 
he, in these respects, an imitator of Paul, even as Paul 
was an imitator of Christ ! 

XXIX. 

Observe punctuality in all your Engagements, 
If a man were to spend his days in perfect seclusion. 
he would still be a gainer by the habit of regularity, in 
the distribution of his time and his pursuits, 'but its 
importance obviously increases with the extent of his 
connexions, and the number of his engagements. If re- 
gularity be that which a man owes to himsel, punctuality 
is that which he owes to others. "Appointments/ 5 
observes Mr. Cecil, " become debts ; I owe you punctu- 
ality, if I have made an appointment with you ; and 
have no right to throw away your time, if I do my own. 
Punctuality is important, because it subserves the peace 
and good temper of a family ; the want of it not only in- 
fringes on necessary duty, but sometimes excludes the 
duty. Punctuality is important ; as it gains time, it is "like 
packing things in a box ; a good packer will get in half 
as much more as a bad one. — The calmness of mind 
which it produces is another advantage of punctuality : a 
disorderly man is always in a hurry ; he has no time to 
speak with you, because he is going elsewhere; and 
when he gets there he is too late for his business, or he 
must hurry away to another before he can finish it. It 
was a wise maxim of the Duke of Newcastle—-' I do 



183 

one thing at a time. 5 -— Punctuality gives weight to 
character : i such a man has made an appointment ; 
then I know he will keep it.' And this generates 
punctuality in you ; for like other virtues, it propagates 
itself." 

If these pointed and judicious remarks are applicable 
to men of every profession and occupation ; if they are im- 
portant to the man of business, and to the man of letters 
they are of still greater importance to the christian 
minister. If he would consult his own tranquilty ; if 
he would be an economist of invaluable time ; if he 
would do justice to his sacred engagements ; if he 
would advance in the esteem and confidence of his nu- 
merous connexions ; let him, although without excessive 
and over-anxious preciseness, pay due regard to the 
claims of punctuality. 

XXX. 

Do not hastily abandon a Station of Usefulness 
ivhich you have acquired a Moral Influence. 
"Influence," says Mr. Cecil, "whether derived from 
money, talents, or connexions, is Power. Whoever 
neglects or misapplies this power, is an unprofitable 
servant. — Even men of feeble public talents may 
acquire much influence, by kindness and consistency of 
character. Ministers are defective, in resting their 
personal influence too much on their public ministry : 
time will give weight to a man's character ; and it is 
one advantage to § man, to be cast early into his sitna- 



184 

lion that he may earn a character." If these remarks 
are just, as undoubtedly they are, then, by abandoning 
a station where useful influence has been gradually 
attained, a minister makes the costly sacrifice of no 
small portion of these earnings of many years. It is 
not the whole, nor perhaps the greater part of that 
influence, which he can reasonably expect to transfer 
to another station. It is an influence over minds of 
various orders, which, by his ministry, he has trained ; 
and those minds are better prepared, and more fully 
disposed, to receive benefit by his ministrations, than 
by those of any other man, although more splendidly 
gifted than himself. It is an influence arising from 
continued intercourse ; emanating from the growth of 
character, and receiving constant accessions of strength 
from reciprocities of kindness. By removing to other 
scenes, and other connexions, these advantages are, in 
a great degree, surrendered; and the minister who 
thus transfers his services to another, and a distant 
sphere of exertion, places himself, in some respects, in 
circumstance of retrogradation, and has to recommence 
the work which had been previously far advanced. 
These remarks are not made with a view to intimate, 
that a change of station is, in no instances, justifiable ; 
but with a view to urge the most cautious and deliber- 
ate consideration, in weighing the certain disadvanta- 
ges against the 'probable benefits of the change. That 
change is unquestionably to be avoided as an evil, 
which does not reasonably authorize the expectation of 
a- decided preponderance of good. 



AN ADDRESS* 

DELIVERED IN THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, ANDGVUK; 
September 21, 1824, 

BY THE 

REV. JUSTIN EDWARDS, 

PASTOR OF THE SOUTH CHURCH IN ANDOVEIL 



Eloquence is the art of speaking well. Speaking 
well, is speaking in such a manner as tends to accom- 
plish the object of the speaker. And that speaking is 
the best, or the most eloquent, which most strongly 
tends to accomplish the object. The objects of speakers 
are various ; and not unfrequently the same speaker 
has in view different objects. They may all, however, 
be classed under two heads, immediate, and ultimate. 

The immediate object generally is to influence 
minds ; to lead them to think, feel, and act. A speak 
er does not, however, design to lead men merely to 
think, feel, and act, but to do this in a certain way. 

* This Address confirms so forcibly, and illustrates so admirably, 
many of the principles inculcated in the preceding pages, that, with 
most respectful gratitude to the eloquent Author, it is appended to this 
Edition* 

16* 



186 

That way he intends himself to mark out. By com- 
municating his thoughts, exhibiting his feelings, and 
by means of speech, looks, and actions, bringing these 
into contact with their minds, he designs to lead them 
to start, and move onward in the direction which the 
impulse of his own mind shall give them. 

The ultimate object generally is some good, real or 
imaginary, which he expects to result from such a 
course of thought, feeling, and action. 

Sacred eloquence is the art of speaking well on sacred 
subjects. These are subjects which relate to God, to 
Jesus Christ, to the Holy Ghost, to the souls of men, 
and to eternity. All subjects relate more or less 
to these, but sacred subjects appropriately, are those 
which relate more immediately and directly to these 
objects. They relate especially to the wondrous mani- 
festation of the Godhead for the deliverance of unnum- 
bered millions of our race from the ruins of apostasy* 
and their exaltation to the holiness and bliss of heaven. 
The character of God, the creation and fall of man, the 
way opened for his recovery by the incarnation, obedi- 
ence, and death of Christ ; the transformation of those 
who believe, by the power of the Holy Ghost, into the 
divine image ; the dissolution of the world, and the 
eternal destinies of the righteous and the wicked, are 
all appropriately subjects of sacred eloquence. 

Public speaking on these subjects is an ordinance of 
divine appointment. To speak well upon them, is, to 
speak in such a manner as tends to accomplish the 
object of that appointment. And that speaking is 



187 

always the best, or most eloquent, which most strongly 
tends to accomplish that object. 

Hence arise three questions, viz. — What was the 
object of God in appointing the ordinance of public 
speaking on sacred subjects ? What kind of speaking 
most stongly tends to accomplish that object ? And 
how may men of competent talents and learning, attain 
to that kind of speaking ? In a plain practical man- 
ner to answer these questions will be my object in 
this address. 

What was the object of God in appointing the ordi- 
nance of public speaking on sacred subjects ? 

It was the promotion of his glory in the salvation of 
men. This salvation consists in deliverance from a state 
of eternal sinning, and suffering ; and in exaltation to a 
state of eternal holiness and bliss. The term on which 
his salvation is granted is a change of character, 
from a state of enmity, to a state of friendship with 
God. This change is manifested by repentance of sin, 
faith in Jesus Christ and obedience to his commands. 
The grand means of effecting it, is, by divine appoint- 
ment, public speaking. This then is the object of 
sacred eloquence. — to reconcile men to God for the 
purpose of promoting his glory in their salvation, 

This is stated to be the object, by the highest authority. 
Said one of the most eloquent men that ever lived, who 
was taught this divine art from heaven, and who spake 
as he was moved by the Holy Ghost, (; Knowing the 
terror of the Lord we persuade men." To what did he 
persuade men ? H Be ye reconciled to God/*' P We 



b 



188 

pray you in Christ's stead, be ye. reconciled to God. ?: 
" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." And "whether 
ye eat j or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the 
glory of God. 5 ' Why did he wish to persuade them to 
this? " Knowing the terror of the Lord." " Other 
foundation can no man lay than is laid, which is Jesus 
Christ." " Neither is their salvation in any other ; for 
there is none other name under heaven, given among 
men, whereby we must be saved." " And he that 
believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath 
of God abideth on him." "The Lord shall be revealed 
from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, 
taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that 
obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall 
be punished with everlasting destruction from the pre- 
sence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power/ 5 
To save men from this overwhelming, and endless 
destruction, and to raise them to that " exceeding and 
eternal weight of glory," is the object of sacred elo- 
quence. This was the object of Paul. It was the 
object of Him who spake as never man spake. It is 
the object of all who are like him, and who, with his 
spirit, engage in this employment. This ought to be 
the object of every minister of the gospel ; and of every 
individual who unites with this Society for the purpose 
of improvement in s&cred eloquence. And on this 
occasion, brethren, I shall take it for granted that this 
is your object. I shall take it for grahted that your 
object is the same with that of Paul, from the memora- 
ble period when light shone around about him from 



189 

heaven, and it was said of him, "behold, he prayeth f 
and when he was borne onward, by the love of Christ, 
through perils of waters, perils of robbers, perils by his 
own countrymen, by the heathen, in the city, in the 
wilderness, in the sea, among false brethren, in weari- 
ness and painfulness, hunger, cold, thirst and naked- 
ness, not counting life dear to him, till he broke out in 
triumphant strains, "I have fought a good fight, I 
have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Hence- 
forth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at 
that day ; and not to me only, but unto all them also 
that love his appearing." Yes, I hear your hearts echo 
— This is the object. 

What kind of speaking then most strongly tends to 
accomplish this object ? It is not every kind of speak- 
ing ; nor is it every kind of speaking on sacred subjects. 
"What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord V " If 
I say unto a wicked man, Thou shalt surely die, and 
thou dost not warn that wicked man, he shall die." 

What kind of speaking then will save men? I 
hear it whispered, — " No kind of speaking whatever* 
To save men is the work of God. Repentance of sin, 
and faith in Jesus Christ are his gifts. It is not of 
him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God 
that showeth mercy. " I know it. Every man who 
understands, and believes the Bible, knows it. Paul 
may plant, and Apollos may water, but God giveth 
the increase. But how does he give it ? Without the 
planting of Paul, and the watering of Apollos, or with 



190 

them % After he has appointed means, and comman- 
ded men to use them, does he give his blessing without 
the use of those means, or with it ? And does the 
fact that he gives the blessing, render the means 
which he has appointed useless? Does it give the 
least hope, or furnish the least excuse to those that 
neglect them ? Let God answer. " He that is idle 
in seed time shall beg in harvest, and have nothing." 
Although neither is he that planteth any thing, neither 
he that watereth, as to being the author of blessings ? 
yet he that planteth and he that watereth are both as 
instruments essential; because God has appointed 
them. And, working all things after the counsel of 
his own will, he gives blessings in the way of his own 
appointment. Hence it is a principle in his adminis- 
tration, settled as the ordinances of heaven, that, "as a 
man soweth so shall he reap." And this is as true in 
spiritual things, as in temporal. He of whom are all 
things, and by whom are all things, ordinarily appor- 
tions the harvest in kind, and quantity, to the seed sown, 
ground cultivated, and the labour bestowed upon it. 
Hence the foundation for that which is the glory of 
creatures in a state of probation, an abiding convic- 
tion of absolute dependance on God, and of obli- 
gation perfectly to obey him ; leading to deep hu- 
mility, fervent gratitude, untiring perseverance in duty, 
a disposition to view all blessings as the gifts of God. 
and render to him for ever all the glory. And this, 
instead of palsying the powers of the human soul, will 
raise them to the highest pitch of exertion. It will 
give to men a boldness and an energy, a vigour and 



191 

perseverance, both in willing and in doing, which 
nothing but a conviction that God is working in them 
both to will and to do, will ever accomplish. Hence 
when he, in whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead 
bodily, would lead those who were not sufficient of them- 
selves even to think any thing as of themselves, to un- 
dertake, and to accomplish, the most difficult and glo- 
rious work ever thought of by mortals, he told them, 
" Without me ye can do nothing." Having fastened 
the conviction of this truth in their minds, he com- 
manded, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the 
gospel to every creature." And to sweep away every 
objection which the ignorance, sloth, pride, or malice 
of men could raise, he said, " He that believeth and is 
baptized shall be saved ; and he that believeth not shall 
be damned." " And lo, I am with you alway, even 
unto the end of the world." 

Believing his declaration, and relying on his promise, 
as workers together with him, they w T ent forth in the 
plenitude of their weakness, and his strength, conquer- 
ing and to conquer. Satan and his legions, driven out 
from strongholds which they had fortified for ages, 
surrendered their captives, and retired in disma}' before 
this band of martyrs, as they waved in holy triumph, 
from continent to continent, the banners of the cross. 
Songs of deliverance, even from eternal death, broke 
from a thousand tongues, and ten thousand hearts pour- 
ed forth their choicest strains to God their deliverer. 
But in doing this, they lost sight neither of the instru- 
ments, nor of him who used them. With one breath 



192 

they cried, " How beautiful upon the mountains are 
the feet of them that that bring good tidings, and that 
publish the gospel of peace !" With the next they 
cried, " Unto him that loved us, and washed us from 
our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and 
priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and 
dominion, for ever and ever." 

So it has been in every generation. So, we learn 
from the Bible, it will be. "1 heard a voice, saying 
Who are these, and whence came they ? I looked and, 
lo, a multitude, which no man could number, of all 
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood 
before the throne of God, and the Lamb, clothed with 
white robes, and palms in their hands, and cried with 
a loud voice, saying, Salvation, to our God that sitteth 
upon the throne and unto the Lamb." Such by divine 
appointment, are to be the trophies of sacred eloquence. 
Attended by the power of the Holy Ghost, it is destined 
to be the means of peopling heaven ; preparing multi- 
tudes which no man can number to shine before the 
throne of God in the lustre of his image, and reflect the 
brightness of his glory through the universe. 

The question then returns, and with augmented inte- 
rest, What kind of speaking most strongly tends to ac- 
complish this ? How must a man speak in order to pro- 
mote, to the greastest extent, the salvation of men ? 

He must declare all the truths which God reveals : 
in the connexions in which he reveals them. And 
he must declare them with those feelings which these 
truths clear!]/ apprehended^ cordially embraced^ and 



193 

faithfully obeyed will inspire. The only reason why 
preaching of any kind is ever effectual to the salvation of 
men, is, God has appointed it, and attends it with his 
blessing. And he has not only appointed that men 
should preach, but has told them what to preach. 
••Preach the preaching that I bid thee." " Hear the 
word at my mouth, and give them warning from me." 
-He that hath my word, let him speak my word faith- 
fully" This requires him to preach whatever God 
reveals, and as he reveals it. A preacher has nothing 
to do to invent new truths, to preach those which 
God does not reveal, or those which he does, in any 
different manner and connexion from what he reveals 
them. To the law and the testimony — if preachers 
speak not according to these, there is no light in them. 
The law of the Lord, as he reveals it, is perfect, con- 
verting the soul. It needs only to be understood, and 
obeyed, to prepare men for heaven. The testimony of 
the Lord, as he gives it, is sure, making wise the 
simple. All that a preacher has to do, is, in the clearest 
and kindest manner, to exhibit this ; illustrate it to the 
understanding, and impress it upon the heart. " Go 
ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature." This gospel is that revelation, which is 
made to men in the Bible ; all of which is given by 
inspiration of God, and is profitable, for doctrine 3 
reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness, that 
the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished 
unto every good work. The whole of this revelation, 
avouM you be instrumental to the greatest extent in 

17 



194 

saving souls, you must preach, and nothing more. 
The Bible must be to you what the pillar of fire and of 
cloud was to Moses. Where that goes, you must go. 
If you stop, God moves on without you. You are left 
behind, in a wilderness, without a guide, without a 
helper. Your safety and your success both depend 
upon following him. Where he stops, you must stop. 
If you move, go which way you will, you go without 
God. Fight as you may you only beat the air. 
Instead of conquering you are conquered. Or if you 
seem to yourselves to gain a temporary triumph, and 
begin to scowl upon less adventurous spirits, who dare 
not move without God, it is only a feint of the enemy 
to draw you into thicker ambush, and sink you into 
deeper ruin. You may imagine that yon have hosts 
strong and mighty, who can overcome in battle ; but. 
like the Egyptians in the sea, the more numerous your 
hosts, and the heavier your artillery, the deeper you 
sink. In a warfare like this, nothing can be done 
without God, And he will accompany none, but those 
who follow him. 

Would you rise in sacred eloquence to the highest 
possible pitch, your eloqueuce, as to matter, must be the 
echo of the eloquence of God. That, like its author, is 
perfect. The perfection of human eloquence is to be 
like it. That is the pattern which you must always 
follow. And those who honour me, saith God, I will 
honour ; but those who despise me, shall be lightly 
esteemed. Canst thou draw out leviathan with thy 
hook ? or pierce his sides with thy spear ? Thine iror* 



195 

he esteemeth as straw, and thy brass as rotten wood, 
Thy darts he esteemeth as stubble, and he laugheth at 
the glittering of thy spear. When a strong man armed 
keepeth his house his goods are in peace. A stronger 
than he must come upon him, and take away his 
armour, and then he may spoil his house. In the battle 
with flesh and blood, principalities and powers, and the 
rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wicked- 
ness in high places, you, without God, are nothing ; 
less than nothing, and vanity ; as the chaff which the 
whirlwind driveth away. You cannot for a moment 
sustain yourself : how can you conquer others ? 

In illustration of the principle under consideration, 
look a moment at the grand topic of revelation ; that 
which as a means in saving sinners is the principal in- 
strument of doing all that revelation can do, viz. the 
character of God. Who understands it, and who 
can understand it but himself? Who else can reveal 
it ? And after he has revealed it, who can add to that 
revelation, or take from it, or in any respect essentially 
alter it, without making it essentially imperfect ? .No 
matter how great a man's talents, or extensive his 
learning ; had he a mind surpassing a thousand fold 
the mind of Gabriel, and stored with all the wisdom and 
knowledge that has ever existed, or that ever will exist out 
of the mind of God, he could add nothing and take away 
nothing from divine revelation without rendering it, so 
far as he altered it, imperfect ; and tending to prevent 
its proper effect on minus. Would you produce the 
right effect on minds, raise this effect to the highest pitcji 



196 

of intensity, and give it the greatest extent, show them 
the character of God, just as he reveals it. If you fail 
essentially here, you may expect to fail every where. 
You may speak with the tongue of men and of angels, 
but without exhibiting the character of God, in the 
work of saving sinners you will be nothing ; and you 
will do nothing but hinder it. Should your voice be 
music itself, and reach the ear of every being in the 
creation, it will fall powerless upon the heart which is 
at enmity with God, and produce in it no reconciliation 
to him. 

You will not make men feel that while they live in 
known sin they are enemies to God. You will not 
make them feel that on accouut of this they deserve to 
perish. You will not make them feel that except they 
be " born again," they will perish. And you will not 
reconcile them to Him. who, if they do not repent, 
believe on Jesus Christ, and serve him, will punish them 
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the 
Lord, and the glory of his power. How can you recon- 
cile men to God unless they feel their need of reconcili- 
ation ? When he offers them deliverance from destruc- 
tion, all of grace, how can they accept it, as all of grace, 
if they feel that they do not deserve that destruction ? 
And if they feel that they do not deserve it, how can 
you reconcile them to him who threatens it, and who, 
if they are not reconciled to him, will bring itupon them? 
The thing is impossible. Hence I say again, if you 
fail essentially here, you may expect, in the work of 
saving sinners, to fail every where. Their hearts will 



197 

remain cased in impenetrable adamant, and not the 
voice of an angel would reach them. This adamant 
must be broken, and the heart within pierced. And 
there is but one instrument that will do this, the word 
op god. This will do it. " Is not my word like as a 
fire, saith the Lord ; and like a hammer that breaketh 
the rock in pieces V 9 Would you assail hearts of stone 
and turn them to hearts of flesh, use this. "And as the 
rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and 
watereththe earth, and maketh it to bring forth and bud, 
that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the 
eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my 
mouth : it shall not return unto me void ; it shall accom- 
plish that which I please, and prosper in the things 
whereto I sent it." Mark the instrument of which this 
promise is made, my ivord that goes forth out of my 
mouth. Use this. And attended by the omnipotence 
of him who speaks, it will be quick, and powerful, 
sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing to the dividing 
asunder of the soul and spirit, the joints and marrow, a 
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 
It will stain the pride of human glory, bring down 
high looks, and lead him who said, I am rich and 
increased in goods, and have need of nothing 3 to cry, 
u Wo is me, I am undone. From the crown of the 
headto the sole of the foot there is no soundness. Against 
thee, and thee only have I sinned, and done evil in 
thy sight." 

And strange as it may seem, the same ^instrument, 
the word of God which goeth forth out of his mouth. 

17* . 



198 

that wounds, will also heal. It will bind up the broken 
heart, amd heal the wounded spirit. It will give deli- 
verance to captives, and the opening of the prison to them 
that are bound. It will even open blind eyes, and let 
in the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, and 
lead the heart that was dead, to cry, " Whom have I 
in heaven but thee, and there is none upon the earth 
that I desire beside thee." "The Lord is my portion." 
-'Though he slay me, I will trust in him." 

Nothing but the ivord of God will do this. Nothing 
else is the sword of the Spirit. Other weapons are 
carnal ; manufactured by the pride and ignorance of 
men. Be furnished with them as abundantly as you 
will, and use them as dexterously, in the day of battle you 
will fall. Every man who uses them will fall, and the 
army of the aliens will move on in triumph. The god 
of this world is never conquered, he never retreats and 
never yields a captive, but at the point of the " sword 
of the Spirit." To cope with him you must use this 
weapon. And you must use it naked, in all its bright- 
ness. Then it will be mighty through God, to the 
pulling down of strong holds, casting down imagina- 
tions, and every high thing that exalteth itself against 
the knowledge of God, and bringing every thing into 
captivity to the obedience of Christ. However numer- 
ous or powerful your foes, you have nothing to fear; for 
the Lord will consume them with the breath of his mouth, 
and destroy them with the brightness of his coming. 

Show to every sinner Jehovah, as he shows himself 
a "just God and a Saviour." Call, in his name, upon 



199 

every one to love him with all the heart, and soul, and 
strength, and mind ; and whether they eat or drink, or 
whatever they do, to do all to his glory. Tell them 
from him that it is a reasonable service for them to be 
holy as he is holy, and perfect as he is perfect ; but that 
they have all gone out of the way, have together become 
filthy, that there is none righteous among them, no not 
one. Tell them from him, that into heaven can enter 
nothing that defileth, and that except a man be born 
again he cannot see the kingdom of God : that the 
wicked will be driven away in their wickedness — be 
turned into hell — go away into everlasting punishment 
— and the smoke of their torment ascend up for ever 
and ever. And if while you lodge his testimony on 
the ear, he carries it to the heart, and fastens there the 
conviction that not one jot or tittle of what he has said 
will fail till it all comes to pass, you will not need to add 
your demonstration. They will feel its truth. And 
think it not strange if some set their faces against the 
heavens, and are almost ready to curse their God and 
king, and look upward ; w T hile others, with clearer view T s 
of their own guilt, and a deeper conviction of God's 
justice, close their lips in silence, and are ready to sink 
into eternal despair. As they cast a lingering anxious 
look to you, show them, God as a Saviour, although 
infinitely rich, for their sakes becoming poor that they 
through his poverty might be rich. Go with them to 
the manger, and thence through prayers, and tears, 
and sufferings, to Calvary. Follow him by the 
blood of his footsteps, till he bears their sins in his own 



200 

body on the tree ; and let them hear him as he groans. 
" My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ?" 
Tell them from him, that he is wounded for their trans- 
gressions, and bruised for their iniquities ; that the 
chastisement of their peace is on him ; that the 
Lord hath laid upon him the iniquities of us all. And 
as he struggles under the amazing load, and the sun 
shrinks away, the rocks break asunder, and the dead 
start from their graves, ask them, If these things are 
done in the green tree, what will be done in the dry ? 
And as they sink under the unutterable answer, he 
cries in agony, " Father, forgive them." And if they 
are not dead, they will feel that God has no pleasure in 
the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from 
his way and live. They will hear from the cross the 
voice of infinite kindness saying, "Turn ye, turn ye, 
for why will ye die ?" And if they are not twice dead, 
they will feel that if they turn not, there will remain no 
more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of 
judgment, and fiery indignation which shall for ever 
devour them. 

But supposing they are dead, twice dead, consumed, 
and their bones bleaching under the winds of heaven, 
be not discouraged. If you are surrounded on every 
side with dry bones, even if they are very dry, and you 
are asked by God, Can these dry bones live ? never an- 
swer, No. But prepare to preach the preaching that he 
bids you. Stand before the cross, and in view of 
" earth's sole hope," cry, " Come, O breath, and breathe 
upon these slain." "'Awake thou that sleepest, arise 
from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." And 



201 

there will be a shaking among the dry bones ; they 
will come together bone to its bone ; flesh and sinews 
will come upon them, and skin cover them above, and 
the Spirit of the Lord breathe into them the breath of 
life. And as soon as they open their eyes, show them 
u the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the 
world." Invite all to look unto him and be saved. 
Tell them that he who spared not his own Son, but 
freely gave him up for them all, will with him also, 
to those who embrace him, freely give all things : that 
neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor 
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able 
to separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus. 
And that they may have strong consolation, tell them 
that he hath confirmed it by an oath, that by two im- 
mutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, 
they may have strong consolation who flee for refuge to 
the hope set before them. 

But tell them too, that other foundation of hope for 
the guilty can no man lay than that is laid, which is 
Jesus Christ : that if he who despised Moses' law died 
without mercy, of vastly sorer punishment will he be 
thought worthy who treads under foot the blood of the 
Son of God : that whosoever believeth not on him shall 
not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. 

And that they may have no doubt of it, carry them 
forward, till he comes in his glory, and the glory of his 
Father with the holy angels ; the dead small and great 
st&nd before him, and he divides them one from another 



202 

as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. Let 
them hear, " Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit 
the kingdom prepared for yon from the foundation of 
the world • and " depart from me, ye cursed, into ever- 
lasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Let 
them see the wicked going away into eternal punish- 
ment, and the righteous into eternal life. Yes, my 
brethren, let them see it. And that they may, see it 
yourselves. Stand, when you preach, on the ruins of 
the world ; see the heavens passing away with a great 
noise, and the elements melting with fervent heat ; the 
earth also and all things in it burnt up ; your hearers 
going away^ some into everlasting punishment, and 
others into life eternal ; and this to depend, as a means, 
upon you ; and you cannot but be eloquent. With the 
groans of the damned, and the songs of the blest, min- 
gling on your ear, and the love of Christ in your heart, 
you cannot but be eloquent. Every look, every action, 
every word, and every tear will be eloquent. And it 
will be the eloquence of the heart, which is the means 
of God's appointment to reach the heart. This is the 
eloquence which he delights to bless, the eloquence of 
the heart, in view of an eternal heaven, and an eternal 
hell, to one of which each individual of the human fa- 
mily is hastening ; constrained by love to pour out its 
emotions to save immortal souls from sinking eternally 
in the one, and raise them to dwell eternally in the 
other. And though this eloquence has none of the 
trappings of human oratory, and is nothing but faith in 
Christ, and love to souls uttering itself in the strong un- 



203 

affected language of the heart, it will, with the blessing 
of God, impress the heart, and subdue it : for it pleases 
God by the foolishness of such preaching, to save all 
that believe. 

Preach, my brethren, the truth of God, in this man- 
ner, for the purpose of glorifying him in the salvation 
of men, and you may hope, through grace, to turn 
many to righteousness ; and afterwards to shine as the 
brightness of the firmament, and as the stars for ever 
and ever. 

How then can you attain to this kind of speaking 1 
You, I mean, who have competent talents, learning, and 
powers of utterance ; who have all needful human in- 
struction, and are willing to make the sacrifices and ef- 
forts which such an attainment requires. You must 
be taught it by the Sjiirit of God. Human teaching 
is needful to show you how, in the best manner, to 
express your feelings ; but you must have divine 
teaching in order to possess those feelings which are 
essential to sacred eloquence. No one but God can 
teach you rightly to apprehend his truth, cordially to 
embrace it, and powerfully to feel its efficacy on your 
own hearts ; or with those feelings which truth inspires, 
communicate it to others. On these points, each of 
which is essential to sacred eloquence, you must be 
taught of God. To receive his teaching, you must 
feel deeply your need of it. God does not communi- 
cate his instruction where it it not desired. To receive 
it you must desire it, ardently desire it. You must dai 
ly ask for it and be ready, with the meekness and do- 



204 

cility of children, implicitly to receive it. For this pur- 
pose you must daily listen to what he declares in the 
Bible ; and with that fixed attention which you would, 
should you hear him declare it from the throne of his 
excellent glory. And you must feel, deeply feel, that 
it is all true, and all important : that the Bible is all 
given by inspiration of God, and is all profitable. And 
as such you must receive it, and obey it. Love the same 
things that God loves, hate the same things that he 
hates, and seek in all your efforts the same great end. 
In doing this, let his will made known in the Bible be 
your guide. When you understand, always follow" it. 
Do nothing, even in thought, which he forbids. Neg- 
lect nothing, even in feeling, which he requires. Form 
no plans, engage in no business, do no actions, speak no 
words, cherish no thoughts, exercise no desires, anc n - 
dulge no feelings, but what you really believe, after all 
the light that you can gain, God appro ***s. In every 
place, and at all times, let " Thou God seest me," be 
written upon your hearts ; and underneath this inscrip- 
tion, " Thy favour is life, and thy loving kindness is 
better than life." Act continually under this conviction, 
and let it be your grand object to please God, and be like 
him. Those books, these studies, those conversations, 
those amusements, and those desires which draw you 
away from God, and render you unlike him, abhor, 
renounce. Have nothing to do with any thing which 
you cannot, in some way, make subservient to the glory 
of God, in the salvation of men. Would you rise to 
the highest pitch of sacred eloquence, keep your eye. 



205 

and your heait, fixed on this grand point ; and toward it 
direct, without ceasing, your highest efforts. Let the 
same mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 
Let no trials, no sacrifices, no temptations turn you from 
the path of duty. Walk with God. Live by faith, 
Reside at the throne of grace, and habitually commune 
with him who sits upon it. One hour's communion 
with God daily, amidst the realities of eternity, will do 
more to make a man excel in sacred eloquence, than a 
whole life of laborious study without it. Select your 
text, prepare your sermon, and preach for eternity. 
This will make you truly eloquent. This was the 
grand secret in the eloquence of Baxter, when there 
was scarce a family through an immense congregation, 
which was not a family of daily prayer ; and which did 
not become such through his instrumentality. It was 
because the fire was kindled from heaven, which glows 
on the pages of his "Saints' Rest," that it has lighted 
its thousands to glory. It is because it was thus kind- 
led, that it continues to burn and will continue with 
increasing brightness and glory till the last conflagra- 
tion. 

This was the grand secret in the eloquence of Brain- 
sird ; as it echoed through the trees of the forest, the 
savage dropped his tomahawk, and, with streaming 
eyes, cried Guttummaukalummeh, Guttummaukalum- 
meh, have mercy upon me, have mercy upon me. 

This was the very soul in the eloquence of Paul, as 
kings on their thrones trembled, and beggars leaped for 
ibv. It made songs of triumph echo in tlie dungeon, 

18 



206 

and carried transports of joy to the rack, and the flames. 
Nor has it lost the least degree of its power in eighteen 
hundred years. No, even now, it melts icy hearts on 
the cliffs of Greenland, lights with celestial brightness 
the plains of Hindostan, removes blackness even from 
the Hottentot, and opens upon the Otaheitan "the light 
of the world." 

Excel, my brethren, in this kind of eloquence, and 
extend it through the world ; and the light of the moon 
will be like the light of the sun ; the light of the sun 
will be sevenfold— and the light of Zion will 
eclipse them. Kings will come to her light, and princes 
to the brightness of her rising. Her sun will not go 
down by day, her moon not withdraw itself ; the Lord 
will be her everlasting light, and the Lamb her glory. 
A voice will be heard, " The kingdoms of the world 
are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and his Christ. 
And the whole earth will be full of his glory, as the 
waters fill the seas." 



OUTLINE 



OF THE 



COURSE OF STUDY 



PURSUED BY THE STUDENTS OF THE 



THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, ANDOVER, 



IN THE DEPARTMENT OF 



CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY, 



WITH REFERENCES TO THE PRINCIPAL BOOKS IN THE 
LIBRARY, PERTAINING TO THAT DEPARTMENT 



FOR THE USE OF THE STUDENTS- 



Theological Seminary, Andover, June, 1830, 

The following outline was intended as an 
assistant to the members of this Seminary, in regard to 
the general order of subjects in Theology, and the 
books to be consulted. No reference however was made 
to books, even the most valuable, which were not con- 
tained in the Library belonging to the Seminary. But 
during the five years which have elapsed since this 
Outline was prepared, a large addition of choice works, 
costing several thousand dollars, has been made to the 
Library. These works Fiiave had no time to examine 
at large, even so far as to arrange those which relate to 
Theology under their proper heads; a few however, 
and some of great value, have been added to the list. 

This Outline it will be seen does not contain all 
the important topics in christian Theology. The 
reason of this deficiency is, that the plan of study in the 
different departments in this Seminary, admit of a 
particular attention to only a part of the whole range 
of Theological subjects. 

L. WOODS* 



18* 



COURSE OF STUDY. 



NATURAL THEOLOGY. 

1. Proof of the divine existence, stated in the man 
tier of Paley, Bentley, Berkley, Clarke, and other 
writers. 

Paley's Natural Theology. Bentley's Boylian Lectures. Dwight's 
Theology, Vol. I. Serm. I. Minute Philosopher, Dial. IV. Aberne- 
thy's Sermons, Serm. I. Clarke's Demonstration. Brown's Philoso 
phy of the Mind. Vol. III. p. 92. Brown on Cause and Effect. Stap- 
feri Theologia, Vol. I. Cap. Ill, § 266—994. Oeuvres de Pascal 
Tom. II. Sec. 3. Beattie, Vol. VIII. p. 6. Brettschneider's Entwick.§ 
58. Handbuch, B. I. p. 291—304. 

Charnock's Sermons, Vol. I. p. 1. Bates's Works, Chap. I — 7. 
Leighton's Lectures, Lect. 7. Doederleinii Theologia, Vol. I. p. 258 
—269. Foster's Natural Religion, Chap. I. Ridgeley's Body of 
Divinity, Vol. I. Abbadie de la Religion Chretienne, Tom. I. Sect. 
I. Allen's Oracles of Reason, Sect. II. Chap. I. Gerhardi Loci 
Theologici, Tom. III. p. 40. Hey's Lectures, Vol. I. Chap. III. IV. 
Berkley's Dialogues. Gisborne's Natural Theology. Review of 
Brown and Summer on the Being &c. of God, Chr. Obs. Vol. XVI 
p. 101. Wollaston's Religion of Nature, part II. Stillingfleet's Orig, 
Saerse Book III. Hamilton's attempt to prove the divine existence, 
Oeuvres de Fenelon, Tom. II. Foster's Essays, Part I. Letter 5 
NIehol's Conference. J. A. Turrettin, Vol. I. p. 52. Vogel, in 
Gambler's Journal, Vol. II. p. 19, 109. Vol. V. p. 17. Wegscheider's 
Inst. Theol. § 52—59. Cudworth's Intell. Syst, J. Efdwards's TheoL 
Reform.. Vok J. p; 3-*40. 



212 

2. Hypothesis and arguments of Atheists. 

Bentley's Boyl. Lect. I— -VIII. Dwight's Theol. Vol. I. Serm. IL 
Hall's Serm. on Modern Infidelity. Stapferi Theol. Vol. II. Cap. 6, 
Beattie's Works, Vol. VIII. p. 6. 

Stillingfleet's Origines Sac. Book III. Chap. I. II. III. Warburton's 
Div. Legation, Part I. p. 34 — 78. Nichols's Conference, Vol. II. p 
437. Abbadie de la Relig. Chret. Tom. I. Sect. 2. Philips de Athe- 
ismo. Noesselt's Vertheidigung der Christlichen Religion gegen 
Atheisten. 

3. Moral perfections of God, proved by the light of 
nature. 

Paley'sNat. Theol. Chap. 26. Dwight's Theol. Vol.1. Serm. 8, 
Abernethy's Sermons, Vol. III. Serm. II. III. Brown's Philosophy. 
Lect. 93 — 95. Bellamy's Sermons on the Wisdom of God in the 
permission of sin. Barrow's Works, Vol. II. p. 66. 

Ridgeley's Body of Div. Vol. I. GLuest. II. Bates's Works, Chap, 
I. Derham's Demonstration. Foster's Nat. Relig. Chap. VI. 
Hume's Dial. Allen's Oracles of Reason, Chap. I. Sect. & J. A. 
Turrettin. Vol. I. p. 81. 



DIVINE REVELATION. 

THE SUBJECT GENERALLY. 

Storr and Flatt's Biblical Theology, Lectures of the Evidences of 
Christianity by Daniel Wilson. Knapp's Christian Theology. Le- 
fond's View of Deistical Writers. Delany's Revelation examined 
Hartley* s Truth of the Ch. Relig. Watson's Apology for the Bible, 
and for Christianity. Province of Reason. Clarke's Nat. and Rev. Relig. 
J Watson's Tracts, Vol IV.] Locke's Reasonableness of Christianity 
|W's Tracts, Vol IV.] Leland's Ans. to Tindal. Macknight on 
the Probability of the Gosp. Hist. [W's Tract's Vol. V.] Sykes's 
Truth of the Chi\ Relig. Storr's DectrinaChr. Grotiusde Veritate. 
Bretfschneider's Entwick. Cap. I. Boylian Lectures. Rheinhar9^ 



213 

Dogmatik. Loc. 1. Flatt's Mag. St, I. p. 67.— -St. III. p. 1—40.— St, 
IV. p. 178, 

Plain Reasons for being a Christian, [Watson*s Tracts, Vol. III.] 
Belsham's Essays, Vol, 1, Ess. 3 and 5. Bonnet's Philos. Inq, 
Brown's Essay on the Characteristicks. Shafesbury's Characteristicks* 
Toland's Nazarenus, &c. Collin's Grounds. Chubb's true Gospel, 
Blount's Oracles of Reason* Paine's Age of Reason. Tillotson's 
Sermons, Vol. XII. Serm. 238 — 245. Wellwood's disc, on the Author- 
ity of the N. T. Allix on Script. [W's Tracts, Vol. I.] LaPluche's 
Truth of the Gospel. Limborchii Theol. Cap. IV. Lib 1. Stilling- 
fleet's Orig. Sac, Allen' Oracles of Reason. Hey's Lect. Vol. L 
Brown's Body of Divinity. Squire's Nat. and Rev. Religion. Lloyds's 
Inquiry. Jenkin's Reasonableness of the Chr. Relig. Curcellii Op 
Lib. L Bates's works. OrigerKContra Celsum. [Sanct. Pat. Op. 
Tom. VII, VIII.] Prideaux's Life of Mahomet, and Letter to Deists. 
Justin Marty's Apol. [Sanct. Pat. Op. Polem.] The same tr. by 
Reeves. Item Oratio et Cohort, ad Grsec. et Dial, cum Tryph. Judo 
Athenag. Legat. Pro Christianis. Clementis Alexan Cohort, ad 
Gent. [Sanct. Pat. Op. Tom. IV.] Price's Dissertat. Hammond's 
Works Vol. I. Witherspoon's Works, Vol. IV. Brown's Introd. to 
the Bib. Toellner's Goettlicher Eingeb. der Heilig. Schr4ft. Deism 
Revealed. West's Defence of the Chr. Rev. Littleton's St. Paul 
Nichols's Conf. Taylor's Apol. of Ben Mord. Findlay against 
Voltaire. Fellows' s Chr. Philos. Warburton's Div. Leg. Boudinot's 
age of Rev. Muntinghe's Theol. p. 44 — 152. Vossii, Op. Tom. V> 
Deism Comp. with Christianity. J. A. Turrettin, Vol. I. Boyle's 
Works, Vol. 1. and III Koppen's Bibel ein werk der Gotlich. Weis- 
heit. Baumgarten Crusins Schr. undVemeft. Wegscheider's Inst. 
Pars I. Cap. I. Noesselt's Vertheidigung der Chris. Relig. Henke's 
Neues Mag. Band I, II, 

1. Desirableness and necessity of Revelation. 

Leland's Necessity and Desirableness of Rev. Halyburton's Inquiry 
Ditto Nat. Relig. insurT. Buttler's Analogy, Part II. Ch. I. Clarke's 
Nat. and Rev. Religion. Prop. 1 — VII. Dwight's Discourses on Infi- 
del Philosophy. Appleton' s Lectures, I — VI. Bretschneider' s Handb . 
der Dog. B. 1. p. 59—62. Flatt and Suskind's Mag. St. 15. S. 1—50. 

Leland's Ans. to Tindal, Vol. I. Hey's Lect. Vol. I, Gh,l& La 



214 

Pluche's Tr. of the Gospel, Ch. 1. Brown's Body of Div. Book I,Ch. % 
Ridgeley's Body of Div. Vol. P Witherspoon t s Works, Vol. II. Sect. 3. 
W's Div. Legat. Vol. I, II. Vossii Op. Tom. V. De Idol. Boylian Lect. 
Vol. 1. p. 155. Boyle's Works, Vol. III. p. 1. Reynold's Relig. of 
Jesus Delin. J. A. Turrettin, Vol. 1. p. 225. Foster's Def. of Rev.— 
Turrettini Op. Tom. I. Loc. II. 

2. Historical Evidence. 

Lardner's Credibility. Paley's Evidences, Part I. Less on the N. 
Test. Chalmers's Evidences. Leslie's Short Method. Storr's Doctr, 
Christ. Lib. I. § 1, 2. Translated by Schmucker. Graves on the Pen- 
tateuch. 

Eichhorn's Einleitung, Vol. I. Plain Reasons. [W's Tracts, Vol, 
III.] La Harpe, Oeuv. Tom. IV. p. 118.— West on the Resur.of 
Christ. Littleton on the Conversion of St. Paul. 

3. Proof from Miracles. 

Hume's Essay on Miracles, Vol. II. Campbell's Ans. to Hume ; 
Part II. Paley's Evid. Prop. II. Ch. 2. Farmer on Mir. Douglas's 
Criterion. Brit. Enc. Art. Miracles. (Leland's View, Lett. 18, 19, 
20.) Hartley's Chr. Relig. p.92— 107. Brown's Ess. on the Character- 
isticks, p, 171 Doederl. Theol. Vol. p. 25 — 43 Brown on Cause 
and Effect, Notes E. and F. with Review, Chr. Spect, Vol. III. 
No. 2. Butler's Anal. Part II. Ch. 7. Flatt's Mag. 3 Stuck, p. 1, 
and 40, 4 St. p. 178. Rheinhard's Opus. Acad. Tom. I. p. 145—190. 
Sykes on Miracles. Brettschneider's Syst. Entw. § 236. Erskine's 
Remarks, Sec. VI. Brettschneider's Handb. der. Dog. B. I. p. 76— 
90— and p. 117— 123. 

Schott's Opuscul. Tom I. p. 113. Fellows's Chris. Philosoph. p. 24. 
La Harpe, Oeuv. Tom. V. p. 177.— Henke's Neu. Mag. Band. I 
p. 206, and 453. Gabler's Neu. Jour. Theol. A. VII. p. 187— B. X 
p. 637. J. B. Turrettin, Tom. I. p. 323. Sherlock's Disc. Vol. I. Dis, 
10. Oeuvres de Paschal. Jortin's Rem. on Eccl. Hist. Tillotson's 
Sermons, 229, 236, 281. Barrington's Ess. on the Witness of the H. S. 
[W's Tracts, Vol. IV.] Wellwood's Discourses, [Discourse on Mir. j 
West on the Resurrection. [W's Tr. Vol. V.] Hey'sLect. Vol 
1. Ch. 15, 16. Allen's Oracles of Reas. Ch. 7. Stillingfleet's Orig 



215 

Sac. Book II. Ch. 9, 10. Witsii Melet. Diss. IV. Clarke on the Tr, 
of Rev. Vol. II. Prop. 14. Ridgeley's Body of Div. Vol. l.p. 48, 
Bates's Works, Ch. Ill, IV. Price's Diss. IV. Sect. 3. Witherspoon's 
Works, Vol. IV. Lect. 6. Shaftsbury's Char. Vol. II. p. 333. Ditton 
on the Res. of Ch. Taylor's Ben Mord. p. 910—941. Doederl. 
Theol. Vol. I. p. 25— 43. Muntinghe's Theol. p. 96 and 501. 

4. From Prophecy. 

Hurd's Lectures. Paley's Evid. Part II. Ch. I. Hartley's Chr, 
Relig. p. 109—118. Chalmer's Evid. Ch. 6. Horseley's Serm. Vol. II. 
Serm. 15. — 18. Lardner's Arg. from Destruct. of Jems. [W's Tr. Vol, 
V.JSykes's Tr. of the Chr. Relig. Ch. 11. Buttler's Anal. Part II. 
Ch. 7. 

Witherspoon's Works, Vol. IV. Lect, 8. Seiier Ueber die Weissag. 
.T. A. Turrettin, Vol. 1. p. 347. Marsh's Lectures, Lect. XX, XXL 
Smith's Lectures, XV, XVI. Newton's Proph. Wellwood's Disc. 
[Disc, on the Proph.] Hey's Lect. Vol. I. Ch. 17. Allen's Oracles, 
Ch. 8. Bate's Works, Div. of Chr. Relig. Ch. 4. Boyle's Fulfilm. of 
Scr. Proph. Fuller's Gosp. its own Witness, Part. II Ch. I. Bonnet's 
Inq. Book IV, Bish. Edwards's Def Muntinghe's Theol, p. 97. and 
507. 

5. Internal Evidence. Character of Christ and the 
Apostles, and the nature and tendency of Christianity. 

Paley's Evi. Part II. Ch. 2 — 6. Jenyns's View. Gospel its own 
Witness. Hartley's Chr. Relig. p. 130 — 162. Channing's Serm. at 
Dudl. Lect. Clarke's Evid. of Nat. and Rev. Relig. Prop. 10—14. 
Bates Works, Divinity of Chr. Relig. Ch. 5. Witherspoon's Works, 
Vol. IV. Lect. 4, 5. Abdadie de la Relig. Chret. Tom. II. Ch. 7. 
Erskine' s Intern. Evid. Rheinhard' s Plan der Stifter der Christ. Relig. 
Bogue's Essay on the N. T. Rheinhard's Opusc. Tom.II. No. 17. p. 
289 —494. Appleton's Lect. p. 382—395. 

Ryan's Hist, of Effects of Relig, Ch. 3, and 5. Penses de Paschal. 
J. A. Turrettin, Vol.. I. p 283.— Doederlein, Inst. Theol. P. I. p. 22 
—24. Turrettini Theol. Pars I Loc. II. Glu. 16. Plain Reasons, 
fW's Tracts. Vol. III.] Bradford's Serm. at Boyl. Lect. Vol. L 
Ridgeley's B. of Div. Vol. I. p. 31. Grofius de Veritate, Lib. IP. C]i 



216 

9— 16. LytiletononStPaul. Fellow's Chr.Philos. W's Div. Legal. 
Vol. Ill, IV. Boudinot's Age of Rev p. 153. 

6. Coincidence of Mosaic History with Pagan tradi- 
tion and the appearances of nature. 

Horae Mosaicae Graves on Pentat. Part III. Sect. I, II. Grotius de 
Verit. Lib. I. Sec. 15—16. Gisborne^s Nat. Theol. 

Shuckford's Connexions. Prideaux's Con. Stillingfleet's Orig. Sac 
Lib. I. Bryant's Mythology. 

7. Coincidence of the Epistles with the Acts. 

Paley's Horse Paulinae. 

8. Propagation of Christianity. 

Macknight's Arg. from the Conversion of the world. [W's Tracts, 
Vol. V.] Watson's Apology for Christianity. Hey's Lect. Vol. 1. 
Ch. 18. Witherspoon's Works, Vol IV. Lect. 7. J. A. Turrettin, 
Tom. I. p. 368. Sermons at Boyl. Lect. p. 823. Lyttleton on Conv. 
of St. Paul. White's Lectures. 

9. Analogy of Religion to the Constitution and Course 
of nature. 

Butler's Analogy, Part 1. Reid's Works, Vol. II. Es. I. Ch. 4. 
Boyle's Works, Vol. 1, p 375. Brettschneider's Hanb. B. I. p. 97 
—114. 

10. Objections of Deists. 

Leland's View. Do. Ans. to Tindal, Vol. II. Witherspoon's Works, 
Vol. IV. Lect. 8. Helyburtou's Inq. Arg. 9. Watson's Appolgies. 
Brown Ess. on the Charact. Ess. III. Stapferi Theol. Vol. II. Chap. 
VII. Bachus's Sermons on the Evidence of Rev. Dodd. Lect. Vol. 
II. Prop. 6. 

Henke's Neu. Mag. B. II. p. 390? J. A: Turrettin, Vol. I. Fabri 
cii Delectus Arg. et Syllabi Scriptor. English's Ground of Christian- 
ity Examined. Carey's Review, and Everett's Defence. Deism. Rev. 
Nichols's Conf. Vol. II. p. 437- Fihdlay against Voltaire . Boudinot's 
Age of Rev. p. 249. 



217 

INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES. 

subject generally.— 1. Proof of Inspiration in a 
general view. 

Wilson's Lectures on the Evidences of Christianity. Storr and 
Piatt's Biblical Theol. Knapp's Ch. Theology. Woods's Lectures 
on Inspiration. 

Calamy's Sermons, 2 — 4. Dick on Inspiration, Ch. 3 — 6. Parry 
on Inspiration of the Apostles, Sect. 3. Doederl. Theol. Vol. I. p.' 
89—106. Dodd. Lect. Vol. II. Part 6. Whitby's Gen. Pref. to 
Comm. 4 — 8. Lowth on Inspiration. Scott's Essays, Ess. I. Flatt's 
Mag. Zweites Stuck, p. 1. Eichhorn's Einlitung, Vol. I — Calvin. 
B. I. C. 7. Rheinhard's Dogmat. Proleg. Loc I. Gerard's Institutes. 
Bretschneider's Entwick. Ch. I. § 33. p. 183 — Do. Handb. B. I. p. 
177—188. 

Wegscheider's Inst. Theol. p. 84: — 123. — Koppen's Bibel ein werk 
der gottlich. weisheit. abs. IV. p» 376 — 554. Tillotson's Serm. Vol 
II. Serm. 21. Michaelis on N. T. Vol. I. Ch. 3. Townson's Works, 
Ridgeley's Body of Div. Vol. I. Zacharia's Bibl. Theol. Vol. I. 
Sect. 19 — 41. Toellner's Die gottliche Eingeb. der heilig. Schrift- 
Standlin's Beitrage Z. Gesch. Jablonski's Opusc. Tom. IV. p. 225. 

2. In what sense and degree were the Scriptures 
inspired. 

Calamy's Serm. II— V. and Appendix. Hartley's Chr Relig. p. 
18—22. Dickon Ins. Ch. I. Parry Do. Introduction and Sect. I. and 
II. Benson Do. [W's Tr. Vol. IV.] Ridgeley, Vol. I. p. 47. 
• Wardlaw's Disc Note I. p. 418. Note L. p. 423. Campbell's Gos- 
pels, Vol. I. Diss. I. Part II. Doed. Theol. Vol I. p. 91—103, and 
180. Dodd. Lect. Vol. II. Part VI. Whitby's Gen. Pref. I. II. III. 
Rheinhard's Dogmat. § 20. Bretschneider's Entwick. § 51. p. 299. 
Do. Handbuch, B. 1. p. 177—193. p. 211—215. Tittman uber 
Supranaturalismus. 

Horae Bib. p. 240—249. Emmons's Serm. II. W's Tr. Vol. III. 
; 467—482. De Wette's Lehrbuch d. Dogmat. Theil II. p. 48 
Jablonski's Opuso Tom. IV. p. 438. Gambler's Neu. Jour. Theol 
B. IX. p. 273. 

19 



218 

OBJECTIONS TO INSPIRATION. 

Obj. 1. The authors of the Scriptures write, in 
the exercise of their own faculties ; in the use of ad- 
vantages within their reach ; and with the same diver- 
sity of style as is common with other writers. 

Calamy's Serm. V— VIII. Campbell's Gosp. Vol. I. Diss. I. Par 
IT. Jablonski's Opuscula, Tom. IV. p. 441. 

Obj. 2. There are discrepancies among the writers, 
Inconsistant with their plenary inspiration, 

Calamy's Serm. VI. VII. Paley's Evid. Part III. CU I. Ridge- 
ley's B. of Div. Vol. I. p. 39* Owen and Randolph. 

Obj. 3. The manner of quoting from the O. T. by 
the writers of the N. T. inconsistent with their inspira- 
tion. 

Owen and Randolph on Gluot. Store's Hist. Sense, § 24. Syke's 
Tr. of the Ch. Relig. Michaelis on the N. T*. 

Rheinhard's Opuscula Acad. Vol. I. p. 475 — 525* Henke's Neu 
Mag. B. II. St. II. and B. V. § 109. Flatt and Suskind's Mag. Stt 
13,— s. 1^67. Bretchneider's Handb. B, I. p. 215—236. 



CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. 

subject generally. — 1. Rules for the study of 
the Scriptures with a view to a correct system of Theolo 

Dwight's Theology. Storr and Flatt's Bib. Theol. Knapp's Chr 
Theology. 

Taylor's Scheme of Script. Div. Ch. I. [ W's Tracts. Vol. I.] Hey 's 
Lect. Vol. I. Ch. 10. Leighton's Lect. Introduction. Ernesti. on 
Interpretation' Campbell on Syst. Theol. Introd. Disc* and Lect. I— 



219 

VI. Scott's Essays, II. Brown's Intro, to the Bible Oh. II. living's 
Orations, I, II. Stapfer, Tom. I. Cap. I. II. 

Zacharia's Abhandlungen, No. 1. Chris. Spectator, Vol. II. pr 
169. Dick on Inspiration, Ch. VIII. Frank's Guide to the study ot 
the Scrip. Witherspoon's Works, Vol. IV. Intord. Leci?. Pictet 
Theol. Lib. I Cap. 28. Jahn on the Study of the Grig. Lang, Note E. 
Gerhard, Tom. I.Loc. II. CIV. Keil and Tzschirner's Anakelten> 
B. III. St. I. p. 151—204. 

2. Explanation of the language commonly employed 
respecting the divine attributes. 

3. Unity of God. Meaning of the phrase. Whai 
does the light of nature. teach ? Particular design of 
the texts which assert the unity of God. Practiced 
uses. 

Dwight's Theol. Vol. I. Serm. 4. Abwnethy's Disc. Vol. I. Disc. 5 
Clarke's Dem. Prop. 7. Wardlaw's Disc. I. Priestly's Institutes, 
Vol. I. Horseley's Tracts. Yates's Vind. Part II. Ch. I, II. 
Stuart's Lett, to Chaning, Lett. II. Bible News, Part I. Ridgeley, 
Vol. I. GLuest. 7- Gerhardi Loci Theol. Tom. I. p- 105. Brown's 
Philos. Vol. III. Lect. 93. Paley's Theol. Ch. XXV. BrettschrWder's 
Handb-B. I. p. 304— 311. J. P. Smith's Scrip- Test. Vol. I. Chap. I. 
and Notes. 

Burnet on the Art. p. 23, 24. Belsham's Treatises. GUI's Body of 
Div. Vol. I. p. 183. Turrett. Theol. Tom. I. Loc III. p. 198- Doe- 
derl. Theol. Vol. 1. p. 269—279. Foster's Nat. Relig Ch. II. Witt- 
erspoon\s Works, Vol. IV, Lect. 9. Zacharia's Bib. Theol. TheiJ . 
I. S. 392. Chr, Spectator, Vol. III. p. 425. Wegscheider's Inst 
Theol. Pars. II. Cap- 1. § 59- Fratres Poloni, Tom. IV. 

4 Eternity of God, Proof from Reason and Scrip 
ture. Practical uses. 

Dwight's Theol. Vol. I. Serm. 5. Saurin's Serm. Vol. I. Serm. IL 
Paley's Nat. Theol Amnion's Bib. Theol. Theil I. S 92. Char- 
nock on Div. Perf. Clarke on the Attr. Gerhard. Loci Theol Tom, 



220 

III. p. 183. Doederl. Theol. Vol. I. p. 290. Ridgeley, Vol. 1. 57 
Mastricht. Cap. XL Lib. 2. Brettschneider's Hanb. B. I. p. 319— 
321. 

Turrettin, Tom. I. Loc III. au. 10. Umborch. Lib. II. Cap. 5. 
Stackh. Body of Div. Part I. Ch. 5. Tillotson, Vol. I. (fol.) p. 761. 

5. Immutability of God. Proof from Reason and 
Scripture. In what sense is God immutable ? Ob- 
jections from the texts which represent God as repent- 
ing, turning &c. Show that the change implied re- 
sults from the immutable perfection of God. Practical 
uses. 

Dwight's Theol. Vol. I. Serm. 5. Gerhardi L. Theol. Tom. III. p. 
110, Doederl. Th. Vol. I. p. 325. CharnocK's Disc. Vol. I. p. 125, 
Bopkins's Syst. Vol. I. Ch. 2. Ridgeley, Vol. I. p. 62. Priceon Prov, 
Diss. II. Magee on At. No. VIII. p. 87. Mastricht, Cap. VIII. Lib. IL 
Blair's Serm. Vol. II. Serm. 4. Turrettin, Tom. I. Loc. III. Q,u. II. 
Smalley's Sermons, V ol. P Serm. 5. 

6. Omniscience and Omnipresence of God. Proof. 
Different senses in which God is present. Compari- 
son between God and man in respect to knowledge. 
Practical uses. 

Dwight, Vol. I. Serm. 6. Charnock, Vol. I. p. 148. Ridgeley. 
Vol. I. p. 64. Saurin's Serm. Vol. I. Serm. 3. Clarke's Dem. Prop. 
3.|Doederl. Th. Vol. I. p. 302 and 303. Brown's Philos. Vol III. Lee. 
93. p. 449. Gerhard, Loc. Com. Tom. I. Loc. III. 

Foster's Nat. Relig. Ch. III. Robinson's Chr. Syst. Vol. I. Ess. 4. 
Fawcet's Sermons, I. Turrettin, Tom. I. Loc. III. Gtu. 9. Weg- 
scheider's Inst. Theol. p. 146. Brettschneider's Hanb. B. I. p. 321— 
333,— and 379—385. 

7. Omnipotence of God. Proof from the fact of 
creation^ and from the extent and magnitude of di 



221 

vine works. Scripture proof. Meaning of the the texlrr 
which ascribe want of power to God. Practical uses, 

Dwight, Vol. I. Scrm. 7. Clarke's Dem. Prop. 10. Ridgeley, Vol. 
I. p. 64. Charnoek, Vol. I. p. 257. Doederl. Vol. I. p. 326. Gerhard 
Tom. III. p. 138. Foster's Nat. Relig. Ch. VII. Saurin's Serm. 
vol. I. Serm. IV. Turrettine, Tom. I. Loc. Ill Q,u. 21. Brown's Phil 
os. vol. III. p. 450. Do. vol. I. p. 110. 

S. Independence and self-sufficiency of God. Ex- 
planation and proof. How reconciled with the represen 
tation, that God receives pleasure and honor from hi* 
works, especially from the love and obedience of hfc 
intelligent creatures. 

Edwards on God's Last End. [Works, vol. VI. p. 23.] Ridgeley. 
vol, I. p. 55, 56. Emmons's Serm. VI. Zacharia's Biblische TheoL 
Th. I. p. 220. Gerhardi Loc. Com. Tom. I. Loc III. Cap. XX. Doe- 
derline, Pt. I. p. 320—325. Turrettin, Tom. 1. Loc. III. Gtu. 14 to 18 
Mastricht, Cap. 21. Book II. 

9. Benevolence of God. Can it be inferred from his 
natural perfections ? The object of divine benevolence, 
and the ways in which it is displayed. Objections 
from the existence of natural and moral evil, answered, 
Practical uses. 

Dwight, vol. 1. Serm. 9. Saurin's vol. I. Serm. 7. Emmons'* 
Serm. V. Hartley on Man, vol. III. Ch. 3. Hopkins's Syst. vol. Z 
Ch. 2. Ridgely, vol. 1. p. 80. Balguy. on Div. Benev. Chauncy on 
Do. Davies's Sermons, vol. I. Serm. 18. Strong on Benevolence and 
Misery. Do. Sermons, I, II. Brown's Philos. vol. III. p. 451 
Fayley's TheoL 

Stapfer, vol. I. p. 129—137. Turrettin, Tom. I. Loc. III. <Xu. 20 
Mastricht, Cap. 16. Lib. II. Doederline, vol. 1. p. 353. Smalley's 
Sermons. 3. vol. I. Gerhand, Tom. I. Loc III. Cap. XVIII. 

10. Mercy and grace of God. Are these primarv 

19* 



222 

attributes, or only branches of benevolence. Practical 
uses. 

Dwight, vol. 1. Serm. 12. Ridgeley, vol. 1. p. 80. Saurin's Serm 
vol. I. Serin. 7, 8. Amnion's Bib. Theol. Th. I. S. 142. 

Doederl. vol. l; p. 353. Gerhard, Tom. III. p. 164- Foster's Nat. 
Rel. Ch. 8: Ludlam's Ess- 3. Robinson's Syst. vol. I. Ess. 9, 
Turrettin Tom. 1-Loc. Ill- Gtu. 20. Willard's Body of Div. p. 81, 87- 

11. Divine Wisdom. Is it a natural or a moral, a 
simple, or complex attribute ? Evidences of it in the 
word and works of God. Practical uses. 

Dwight, vol.1. Serm. 13. Ridgeley, vol. I. p. 71. Doedrel. TheiL 
vol. 1. p. 311. Gerhard. L. Thool. Tom. I. Loc. III. Tom. III. p. 164, 
Charnock's Works, vol. 1. p. 207. Saurin's Serm. vol. 1. 5. Brett- 
Schneider's Handb. B. I. p. 321—333. Turrettin, Tom. I. Loc. IIL 
On. 12. 

Foster's Nat. Rel. Ch. IV. Ludlam's Essays, III. Robinson'/? 
Syst. vol. I. Ess. 9. Bellamy's Sermon on the Wisdom of God in the 
permission of sin. Clarke's Dem. Prop. II. Ray's Wisdom of God. 
Hopkins's Syst. vol. I. Chap. II. p. 71. Wegscheiders Inst. p. 156. 

12. Divine Justice. Definition and Proof. Its Re- 
lation to benevolence. Amiableness. Practical uses. 

Dwight, Vol. I. Serm. 10. Abenerthey's Serm. 5. Ridgeley, vol.. 
1. p. 78. Magee oa Atone, p. 126. Gerhand. Tom. III. p. 171. 
Charnock's Serm. Strong's Sermons, vol. 1. 3. Edwards's Works 
vol. VII. p. 326. Smalley's Sermons, vol. 1. 4. Bellamy's Ess. Sec. 
VI. Turrettin, Tom. I. Loc. III. Glu. 19. Mastricht, Cap. XVIIL 
Lib.. II. Ammon's Bib. Theol T. I. p. 145. 

Ludlam's Ess. II. Robinson's Syst. Vol. 1. Ess. 8. Doederl. vol 
L p. 328. Foster's Nat. Relig. Ch. V. Limborch' Lib. II. Cap. 12. 
Bellamy's Works, vol. II. p. 413—416. Griffin on Atone. Part I. 
Chap. 2. Wegscheider's Inst. p. 157. Brettschneider's Handb. B, I 
p. 343—367. 

13. Divine Verucitf. Definition and proof. Oh- 



223 

lection, from the cases in which God has not executed 
his word, as in regard to Hezekiah, the Ninevites, and 
pardoned sinners. Practical uses. 

Dwight, vol. I. Serm. 9. Ridgeley, vol. I. p. 90. Doederl. Theo!. 
vol. 1. p. 349. Edward's Works, vol. VII. p. 412. Gerhard, Tom. L 
Loc. III. Cap. XXL 

14. lncomprehensibleness of God. In what respects 
is God incomprehensible ? Deduction as to the proper 
treatment of mysteries in the word and works of God. 

Abenethy's Sermons, VI. Ridgeley. vol. I. p. 63. Brettschneider's 
Handb. B. I. p. 379—385. Doederl. Part I. p. 280—283. 



TRINITY IN THE GODHEAD, 

1. Meaning of the doctrine. Sense of the word per 
son in relation to the subject. Is there any valid objec 
tion to the use of it ? General proof of the doctrine. 

Watt's Works, vol. V. Diss.- 6, 7. Also Prop. 12—15. Ridgeley. 
vol. I. p. 114, 115. Bulli Opera. Calvin's Inst. Book I. Ch. 13, 
Emmons's Serm. III. Stuart's Letters. (3d edit.) p. 34. Storr'e Doet. 
Chr. Lib. II. Cap. 3. Essay of Baumgarten Crusius, [Panoplist vol. 
IX. X.] Venn's Sermons, vol. I. Serm. 8. Wardlaw's Discourses. 
Die. I. Do. Reply, Part II. Ch. 5. Dwight, vol. II. Serm. 29. vol, 
III. Serm. 7L Gill's Body of Div. Book I. p. 190.— 205. Doederl, 
vol. I. p. 367, and p. 407—410. Amnion's Bibl. TheoL Band I. TheiL 
I. Absch. II. Gerhard, vol. I. p. 185. vol. III. p. 209. Brettschneider^ 
Syst. Entw. S. 393, and § 68—70. Stapfer, Tom. I. Cap. 3. Sec. 16. 
and Tom. III. Cap. 12. Worcester and Channing on the Unitarian 
Controversy. John P. Smith's Scrip. Test. vol. II. Appendix, Note III, 
Turrettin, Tom. I. Loc. HI. GLu. 23—27. Mastricht, Cap. 24— 2'7. 
Lib. II. Rheinhard's Dogm. Loc. II. § 42. Taylor's Ben Mordecai. 
vol. 1. p. 67. Note, p. 153. Brett Schneider's Handb. der. Dog. B, I. 
p. 401—429, and 478—509. 



224 

Waterland's Defence of Gtuer. p. -217, 218, 245. Hopkins's Sysi 
vol. I. Ch. 3. Smith on the Trinity, Sect. 8. Cappell, Crit. Sac. p 
667 — 687. Jamieson's Vind. vol. I. Morus's Epitome Theol. Christ. 
Howe's Works, vol. IV. p. 300. Hey'sLect vol. II. p. 213—291, 
Robinson's Ch. Syst. vol. I. Ess. Ii. Jones on the Trinity. Hilarii 
Op. p. 766—1143. Augustini Op. Tom. VIII. p. 533—711. Mun- 
tinghe's Theol. p. 207—230. and 560—584. Prideaux's Lectiones. 
Lee. 17. Wheatly on the Creeds, S'erm. III. Sherlock's (William; 
Vindication of the Trin. Schlegel's Dreyeinigkeit. Review of Chan 
ningand Stuart, [Chr. Spec. vol. III.] Tuckney's Praelec. Theol 
Wegscheider's Inst. Theol. Pars II. Cap. III. Witsii Exercit. Exer. 
VI. John Edward's Theol. Reform, vol. I. p. 281—354. Hilary of 
Poictiers, de Trin. Lib. 10. Marheinecke's Dogm. Athanasius's 
Orations against Arians. Augustini de Trin. Lib. XV. 

Objections. The doctrine inconceivable. Incon- 
sistent with unity. — Few texts to support it, (fee. 

Priestley's Early Opin. vol. I. Sec. 4. vol. II. Book 2, Ch. 2. Fratres 
Poloni, Tom. II. Cap. 4, 7, 8. Yates's Vindication, Part III. Ch. 1—3. 
Unitarian Tracts, p. 74, 145, 175, &c. Purves's Humble Attempt. 
Clarke on the Trinity. Channing's Serm. at Ord. of Sparks. Bel 
sham's Essays, vol. I. Ess. 6. Lindsey's Works. Bible News. Crellii 
Op. Tom. V. Pars. I. Dwight, vol. II. Serm. 39—41. Abbadie on 
Div. of Ch. Sec. 6. Jamieson's Vind. vol. I. Book IV. Ch. 4. Ward 
law's Reply, Part II. Ch. I, and Part III. Witherspoon's Works, 
vol. IV. Lee 9. Stuart's Letters to Channing, Lett. I, II. Stapfer. 
vol. I. § 16. Brettschneider's Handb. B. I. p. 489—494. 

Bradbury's Mystery, vol. II. p. 295. Bates's Works, Ch. V. p. 74. 
Kidder on the Mess. Part III. Ch. 4. Emmons's Serm. III. Taylor^ 
BenMord. Let. Land Notes. Tuckney's Praelec. Theol. Part. 1, 
p. 6-19. 



CHARACTER OF CHRIST. 

With reference to the controversy generally, it will 
be useful to consult. 



225 

Horseley's Tracts. Abbadie on the Div. of Chr. Bulli Opera. 
Wynpersee on the Godhead of Chr. Racovian Catech. Some parts 
of Fratres Pol. and of Priestley's Works. 

1. Christ a real and proper man. 

Dwight, vol. II. Serm. 42. Priestley's Early Opin. vol II. Book 2, 
Ch. 4. Do. vol. IV. Sec. 4. Schoettgen. Horse Heb. Tom. II. Lib. 
III. Bradbury's Mystery, vol. I. p. 143. Bible News, Part II. Letter 
5. Bulli Defens. Fid. Nicaen. Sec. 4. Calvin's Inst. Book II. Ch. 13, 
Smith on Trin. Sec. 7. Doederl. vol. II. p. 243. Brettschneider's 
Entwick. § 98. S. 553. Smith's Scrip. Test. vol. II. Book III. p. 333. 
vol. I, p, 290, 315, 328, 382. 

2. General evidence of the pre-existence of Christ 
in a nature superior to humanity. His incarnation, 
How does it appear that he unites two natures in one 
person ? Philosophical objections against such a union, 
considered. 

Dwight, vol. II. Serm. 42. Watt's Works, vol. V. Disc. I, II. p. 
304—436. Ridgeley, vol. I. p. 179. Calvin's Inst. Book I Ch. 13. 
Book II. Ch. 12.— 14. Turret. Tern. II. Loc. 13. Gerhard. Tom. 
III. p. 367, and 412. Magee on At. p. 53. Sherlock's Serm. vol. IV. 
Disc. I. Tillotson's Serm. vol. T. p. 226. Priestley's Early Opinions, 
vol. I. Sec. 1, 2. Do. vol. II. Book II. Ch. 6, 7. Fratres Pol. Tom. II. 
Cap. 11, and 13. Yates's Vind. Part. III. Ch. IV. Smith's Scrip. 
Test. vol. II. Book III. Chap. I. and Notes, Chap. IV. Book IV- p, 
543. Nare's Remarks on the Improved Version, p. 67 — 132, also 200 
—216. Stapfer, Tom. I. p. 344.— Tom. III. pi 508. Brettschneider's 
Entw. § 99.— Do. Handb. Book II. p. 117,-173. Horsley's Tracts, 
p. 349. 

Bulli Defens. Fid. Nic. Sec. II. Cap. I. II. Bate's Works, p. 121, 122 
Gill's Body of Div. vol. II. Book II. Waterland's Def. p. 232. Mun- 
tinghe's Theol. p. 284, and 630. Bradbury's Myst. vol. I. Serm. 10— 
17. Witsius on the Cov. vol. I. Book II. Ch. 4. Hopkin's Syst. vol. 
I. Part II. Ch. 2. Pearson on the Creed, p. 105 144. Maccovii 
Loci Comm. Cap. 56, 57. Owen on the Person of Chr. p. 388. Com- 
mcntation.es Theol. vol I. p. 241. Taylor's Ben. Mord. vol, I. Lett. 8> 



226 

Orellii Op. Tom. V. p. 383, and 678- Mastricht, Book V. Chap. 10. 
—Appendix to Yates's Vind. p. 14. Wolzogenii Op. Tom. II. Com 
pend. Relig. Chr. Cap. 12.— 15. 

3. Christ's divinity proved from the divine names 
applied to him. Are these names applied to Christ in 
their highest sense ? 

Under this and the following heads, consider what 
force the particular arguments derive from each other, 

Dwight, Vol. II. Serm. 35. Wardlaw, Disc. III. Do. Reply, 
Part II. Ch. V. Watts, vol. V. Prop. 7. 8. Wynpersee, Sec. 5. 
Ridgele}?, vol. I. p. 134.— 150. Scott's Ess. VI. Abbadie, Sect II. 
Ch. 1—3. Doederl. vol. I. p. 375. Gerhard, Tom. I. p. 228. 
Stuart's Lett. p. C. 3d Edit. p. 60. Middleton ontheGr. Art. p. 343,, 
380, 455, 525, 574, 621. Flatt's Comm. de Deitate Chr. Smith's 
Scrip. Test. vol. I. B. IL C 6.— vol. II. p. 446—459, 672. Note B. to 
Chap. IV. p. 511, 597, 237. Nares's Remarks, p. 42—132. 217—266, 
Brettschneider's Handb. B. I. p. 430 — 470. Clarke on the Trim 
Chap. If. Sec. 1. — Part II. Sec 24. Lindsey's Exam, of the Div. of 
Jesus Christ, Sec. 3. Yates's Vind. Part III, Chap. V. 

Jamieson's Vind, vol. I. Book II. Ch. I. Witherspoon. vol. IV. 
Lect. 10. Horse Heb. Tom. II. Lib. I. Doddridge's Lect. vol. II. p, 
158—164. Smith on the Trim Sec. VI. Wheatly on Creeds, p. 147 
156. Glass's Works, vol. Ill p. 7. 

4. Christ's Divinity argued from his Attributes. 

Waterland's Defence, vol. II. Q.u. 6—9. Wardlaw, Disc. III. — Do 
Heply, Part II. Ch. VI. Dwight, vol. II. Serm. 36. Calvin's Inst. 
Book I. Ch. 13. Doederl. vol. I. p. 389. Gerhard, Tom. I. p. 238. 
Stuart's Lett, to C. p. 87. Ridgeley, vol. I. p. 162. Wynpersee. 
Sec. 6. Smith's Scrip. Test. vol. II. B. III. Ch. III. Sec. 4—6, and 
Notes, p. 302—385, 537, 621, 636. 

Bradbury's Myst. vol. IL p 169. Bulli Defensio F. N. Sec. III. 
Wheatly on the Creeds, p. 128 — 147. Lindsey's Examination. Sec 
1 Yates's Vindica. Part II. Chap. YI— Part III. Chap. VI. 



22* 

5. Christ's Divinity proved from his works. 1 . Crea- 
tion. 2. Miracles. 3. Salvation of sinners. 

Dwight, vol. II. Serm. 36, 37. Wynpersee, Sect. 7. Jamieson's 
Vind. vol. I. Book III. Ch. 6, 7. Bradbury's Myst. vol. II. p. 103, 
Ridgeley, vol. I. p. 170. Wardlaw, Disc. IV.— Do. Reply, Part II. Ch, 
7. Gerhard, Tom. I. p. 255. Stuart's Lett, to C p. 67—76, 93. 
Smith's Scrip. Test. vol. II. p. 93, 392, 249, 608* 668. Clarke on the 
Trinity, Part II. Sec. 24. 25. Lindsey's Exam. Sec. 5. Priestley's 
Early Opin. vol. I. See. 5, 6. Yates's Vind. Part III. Chap. VII. 

6. Christ's Divinity argued from passages in the 
Old Testament and the New, representing him as the 
object of religious faith and trust. 

Watts, vol. V. p. 77. Jarniestm's Vind. vol. I. Book III. Ch. 4. 
Scott's Essays, 7. Stuart's Lett, to C. p. 105. Smith's Scrip. Test, 
vol. II. p. 589, 617. 

7. Christ's Divinity proved from the Religious Wor 
ship ascribed to him. 

Horsley's Tr. Lett. 12. Wynpersee, Sec. 8, 17. Dwight, vol. II, 
Serm. 37. Wardlaw's Disc. IV. Do. Reply, Part II. Ch. 8. Abbadie 
Ch. V. Sec. 2. Watts, vol. V. Prop. 20, and Diss. 3; Ridgeley, vol. I. 
p. 181. Doederlein, vol. I. p. 393. Gerhard, Tom. I. p. 269. Stuart's 
Lett, to C. p. 100. Smith's Scrip. Test. vol. II. Book III. Capitu. V. 
VII..— Book IV. p. 465, 552. Notes to Chap. II. p. 597, 623, 637, 
Nares's Remarks, p. 192. Lindsey's Exam. Sec. 6. Priestly's Early 
Opin. vol. I. B. IV. Chap. 3. 

Waterland's Def. Vol. II. p. 410—433. Wheatly on the Creeds, p. 
183—194. Mordicai's Apology, vol. I. p. 383, 410. Clarke on the 
Trin. Part II. See. 50. Bible News, Part II. Lett. 7. Yates's Vin-v 
dication, Part III. Chap. 8. Priestley's Letters to the Archb. of St 



8. Belief of the Christian Church in the first ages, 
Horsley's Tracts, Lett. B } 9. Jamieson's Vind. vol. II. Affix's 



228 

Judgm. of the Ant. Jewish Church, Ch. 19, 20. Watt's, vol. V 
Diss. 4. Bullidef. Sec. II. Item Judicium Eccl. Cathol. D wight, vol 
III. Serm. 71. Stuart's and Miller's Letters. Planck's Observa. [Com. 
Theol. vol. L p. 241.] 

Waterland's Vind. Ch. 5! Doederl. vol. I. p. 417. Smith on the 
Trin. Sec. 9. 

9. Practical importance of the doctrine of Christ's 
Divinity. 

Horsley's Tr. Lett. 16. Jamieson's Vind. vol. h Book IV. Ch. 6 
Wardlaw, Serm. II. Smith on the Trinity, Conclusion. Letters to 
Unitarians, Lett. XII. Stuart's Letters to C Letter 5. Letters to 
Trinitarians. Doederl. Pars. I. p. 466— 470.— Pars. II. p. 365—369 
Puller's Cal. and Soc. Systems Compared. 



SONSHIP OF CHRIST. 

1. Does it imply his eternal generation ? And if so : . 
in what sense ? 

Gill, vol. I. p. 209—132. Watts, vol. V. p. 77. Do Gluest. I. p. 
250. Ridgeley, vol. I. p. 121. Gerhard Tom. I. p. 287—290. Letters 
of Stuart and Miller. Brettschneider's Handb. B. II. p. 117—173. 
Doederl. Part I. p. 448. Horsley's Tracts, p. 513. Priestley's Early 
Opin. vol. II. B. II. Chap. 2—3. 

Waterland's 2d Def. p. 285. Brown's Body of Div. p. 131. Owen's 
Vind. Evang. p. 166. Hey'sLect. vol. II. p. 332. Ambrose's Works. 
Book II. Ch. I. Sec. I. vol. II. Appendix, p. 329. Bradbury's Myst 
vol. II. p. 310. Sherlock's Vind. Sec. 7, Jamieson, vol. I. Book III, 
Ch. 3—6. Hopkins's Syst. vol. I. Ch. II. Part. % Fuller's Essays. 
Smith on the Trin; § II, III. Henke's Neu. Mag. Band HI. p. 365. 
Christ. Spectator, vol. II. p. 225. Turrettin. Tom. I. Loc III. Gtu< 
29. Wheatly on the Creeds, p. 204. Witsii Exercit. p. 82. Pear 
son on the Creed, p. 136. Mordecai's Apol. Letter VIII. Chap: XL 
FratresPoloni, Tom. II. Cap. 9. 

2. Arian hypothesis as to the Sonship of Christ, 



229 

Bible News, Part II. Lett. 1—6. Smith on the Tr. Sec. 4, 5. 
Cambridge Repos. vol. I. p. 359. vol. II. p. 241. Purves's Humble 
Attempt. 

Waterland's Def. vol. I. p, 124. Grew on the Arian Hypoth. 

3. Is Christ called the Son of God because his hu- 
man nature was miraculously derived from the Father ? 
What is the Scripture doctrine of his Sonship ? 

Watts, vol. V. p. 230. Fuller's Essays, Part II. p. 127. Sykess 
Tr. of the Chr. Relig. Smith on the Trinity, Sec. 2—5. Smith's Scrip* 
Test. Book III. Chap. III. Nares's Remarks, p* 54. 



HOLY SPIRIT. 

1 . Proof of his Divinity. 

Dwight, vol. III. Serm. 70. Ridgeley, vol. I. p. 192. Barrow ? s 
Works, vol. II. p. 358. Wardlaw, Disc IX. Storr's Doctr. Ch. § 45. 
Gerhard, Tom. I. p. 303. Mastricht, Lib. II- Cap. 27. Watts, vol. 
V. Diss. 5. Calvin's Inst. Book 1. Chap. 13. Amnion's Bibl. Theol 
Band 1. S. 236—256. Doderl. vol. I. P . 396—398, and 401. Guyse 
on the Holy Ghost, p. 21—223. John P. Smith's Scrip. Test. vol. II. 
App. No. II. p. 742. Brettschneider's Handb. B. I. p. 470— 478.— 
Priestley's Early Opin. vol. II. B. II. Chap. 9. Yates's Vindica. Part 
III. Ch. X. 

Hawker's Serm. 5—8. Robinson's Ch. Syst. vol. II. Ess. 32—36. 
Doddr. Lect. vol. II. p. 179. Witherspoon, vol. IV. Lect. 11. Howe's 
Works, vol. V. p. 208. Anselmi Op. p. 49—61. Ambrosii Op. 
Tom. II. p. 600—700. Hey's Lect. vol. II. p. 422. Zacharia's Bibl, 
Theol. vol. I. Sec. I. p. 76 81. Junii Op. p. 1870. Prideaux's Lee- 
tiones, Lee. 20. Wegscheider's Inst. Pars II. Cap. III. § 86. Wheatly 
*n the Creeds, p. 157— 183. Turrettin, Tom. 1. Loc. III. Q,u. 30, 31, 
Witsii Exercitationes, Ex. 23- Basilii de Sp. S. Didymus de Sp. S. ' 
Pearson on the Creed, p. 314. Fratres Poloni, Tom. II. Cap. XXIL 
Tom. IV, p. 455. 

20 



230 

2. Personality of the Holy Spirit. 

Dwight, vol. III. Serm. 70. Gill, vol. I. Book I. p. 244. Ridgeley,, 
vol. I. p. 118—195. Wardlaw, Disc. IX- Guyse on the Holy Spirit,. 
p. 12. Noesselt's Opusc; Fasc. I. p. 331. Scott's Ess. 13. Doederl. 
vol. 1. p. 399. Gerhard, Tom. I. p. 319. Schleusner's Lex. Mid- 
dleton on the Gr. Art. p. 167, (Lond. Edit.) Smith's Scr. Test, vol- 
II. Appendix, No. II. p. 745. vol. 1. p. 374. Bible News, Part III. 
Let. 2. 3. 

Melancthonis Op. Part II. Hawker's Serm II. III. Owen on the 
Spirit, Book I. Ch. 4. Pearson on the Creed, p. 309. Keil, in Flatt's 
Mag. 4. St. 34. S. 

3. Intelligibleness and practical uses of the Scripture 
doctrine of the Holy Spirit. 

Wardlaw, Disc. 10, 11. Hawker's Serm. I. Doederl. vol. I. p. 
401. Melancthonis Op. Pars II. p. 331. Calvin's Inst. Book III- 
Chap. I. Guyse on the Holy Spirit, p. 224. Noesselt de Inter. Test. 
Spir. Sane 



DIVINE PURPOSES, OR DECREES, PARTI 
CULARLY THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION. 

Calvin Op. Tom. VIII. Pars II. Ridgeley, vol. I. p. 204—267- 
Ddwards, vol. V. p. 351—412. Bellamy, vol. I. p. 124—370. Erasmi 
Op. Tom. V. p. 394. Episcopii Op. Tom. II. Turrettin, Tom. L 
Loc. IV. Mastricht, Lib. III. Cap. I. Dwight, vol. I. Ser. 14, 15- 
Hopkins, vol. 1. Chap. 4. Berry St. Serm. vol. I. Serm. 11. Lime 
St. Serm. vol. I. p. 145. Arminii Op. p. 98, 458. 634. Storr's Doc. 
Chr. § 74. Doederl. voi. I. p. 358. Stapfer, Tom. I. Cap. III. Sec. 5. 
Tom. IV. Cap. XVII. Smalley's Serm. 14, 15, vol. 1. Letters to 
Unitarians, VII, and VIII. Reply to Dr. W. Ch. IX, and Appendix, 
p. 336. Burton's Essays, Ess. 23— 25. Chalmers, (New Ser.) Ser. XL 

Twisse, Diss, de Scientia Med. p. 205. Calvin's Inst. Book III. 
Ch. 20—24. Weeks on Deer. Limborch, p. 311. Brown'* View 



231 

of Nat. and Rev. Relig. Book II. Chap. III. Zanchii Misscel. de 
Predes. Lib. II. Witherspooiij vol. IV. p. 75. Butterworth on Mor- 
Gov. Part IV. Brown's Bod. of Div. p. 140. Leighton's Lect. 10« 
Muntinghe's Theal. p. 429—433. Rheinhard's Vorl. ub. die Dogm, 
Loc. VIII. Fuller's Gos. Worthy, p. 105. Vossii Hist. Controv, 
Pelag. Lib. VI. Tournely, Prael. Theol. de Gratia. Baxter's Cath, 
Theol. Part I. Jablonski's Opusc. Tom. IV. p. 467. Brettschneider's 
Handb. B. II, p. 89—116. 

1. Statement of the doctrine. Proof arising from 
the perfections of God. Has the foreknowledge of 
God in all cases a certain connexion with his pur- 
pose ? And if so, upon what principle does that con- 
nexion rest ? 

2. Scripture Evidence. Texts asserting or imply 
ing the doctrine. Do particular predictions prove it ? 

Objections. Consider how far Objections arise from 
misapprehension or misstatements. 

Obj. 1. The doctrine of Divine Decrees is inconsistent 
with the benevolence and justice of God. 

Obj 2. The doctrine destroys moral agency and ac- 
countability, and makes man a mere machine. 

Doederl. Pars I. p. 603, 604. Edwards, vol. V. p. 359. Letters to 
Unitarians, VIII. Reply to Dr. W. Ch. IX. 

Obj. 3. The doctrine is inconsistent with the sinceri- 
ty of the divine commands and invitations. 

Here inquire into the propriety of the distinction 
frequently made between the secret and revealed ivill 
of God. 

Edward?, vol. V. p. 356—359. 



232 

Obj. 4. The texts which speak of Election and Rep 
robation 5 are to be understood of whole nations or 
Churches, not of individuals. 

Calvin's Inst. Book III. Chap. 21 — 24. Witsius on the Covenants; 
B. III. Chap. 4. Bellamy, vol. I. p. 390. Fuller's Essays, p. 109.— 
Park St. Lect. 9. Letters to Trin. and Calvinists. Letters to Uni- 
tarians. VIII. Reply to Dr. W. Chap. IX. Dickenson on the five 
points, p. I. Whitby on Do. Dis. I. J. Newton's Works, vol. I. p. 
162. Edwards, vol. V. p. 382. 

Willard's Bod. of Div. Glu. 20. Cole on the Sov. of God, p. 59.— 
Toplady, vol. V. p. 249. Fathers of the Eng. Ch. vol. V. p. 373, 596, 
Also vol. VIII. p. 455. Scott's Works, vol. II. p. 521. Do. Reply to 
Tomline, vol. I. p. 328. Hopkins, vol. II. Chap. IV. Sec. 12. Tur- 
rett. Tom. I. Loc. IV. Mastricht, Lib. III. Cap. IV. Chandler's 
Doctrines, p. 28—236. Oeuvres de Clande, Tom. IV. p. 433—493. 

Importance as the doctrine, and of declaring it faith- 
fully. Proper manner of stating and defending it. 
Errors to be avoided. 

Edwards, vol. V. p. 351—412. Letters to Unitarians. VIII. Re 
plytoDr.W.Ch. DL 



MORAL AGENCY. 

1. The general object of metaphysics, or mental phi- 
losophy. How are we to discover the principles 3 or 
first truths of this science ? 

Brown's Philos. Lee. 2 — 4. Reid's Essays, vol. I. Ess. 1. Stewart's 
Phil. Introduction. Do. Phil. Essays, Prelim. Diss, and Ess. I. Buf- 
fer's First Truths. Beattie, vol. IV. Burton's Ess. Introduc. 

2. Meaning of the position, that man is a moral 
Agent, — Show that moral agency continues through 



233 

all possible changes of disposition and character.— Ulii 
mate ground of moral distinction.— Sources ofobscu 
rity. 

West on Mor. Ag. Part 1. Sec. 1. Edwards on the Will, Part I, 
Sect. 5. Edwards on Lib. and Neces. Brown's Phil. vol. II. Lee 82, 
Burton's Essays, Ess. 13—16. 

Butterworth on Moral Gov Part I. Sec. 2. Part IV. Reid's Essays, 
(Edin. Ed.) vol. II. Ess. I V. Ch. 4, Beattie, vol, VII. p. 159. Ful- 
ler's Essays, p. 24. 

3. What judgment are we to form of the nature of 
external, or bodily actions ; of intellectual exercises ; of 
volitions; and of the affections ? Under the influence 
of what causes do these mental operations respectively 
take place, and what is their connexion among them- 
selves ? 

West on Mor. Ag. Part I. Sect. 2, 3. Spring's Dis. p. 46. Ed- 
wards on the Will, Part II. Do. on Lib. and Neces. Ch. V. Priest- 
ley on Lib. and Neces. Hartley on Man, vol. III. Ch. 11, 12. Locke 
on the Underst. Whitby, Dis. 4. Buffier, p. 287. Rheinhard's 
Moral. Band I, p. 283—361. Brown's Philos. vol I. Lee. 17, 18. vol. 
II. Lee. 44, 49, 52. Burton's Essays, Ess. 12, 17—22. 

Butterworth on Mor. Gov. Part III. Sec. 2, 3. Melancthonis Op, 
Pars II. p. 344. Burgess on Orig. Sin, Part III. Ch. IV Sec. 5*— 
Calvin's Inst. B. II. Ch. 2—5. Synopsis Pur. Theol. Disp. 17. Har- 
mony of Confes. p. 58. Robinsons's Chr. Syst. vol. I. Ess. 14. Fa 
thers of the Eng. Ch. vol. VIII. p. 460. Baeillii Op. Tom. II. p. 613. 
Bemardi Op. p. 901—920. Hey's Lee. vol. III. p. 156—194. Phys \ 
and Metaphys. Inquiries, p. 273. Reid, vol. III. Ess. II. Ess. IV. Ch. 
4. Turrett. Tom. I. Loc. 10. Beattie, vol. VII. p. 175. Staudlm's 
Moral, § 25—33. 

4. What is the doctrine of moral or philosophical 
necessity ? What arguments may be used to support 
it : and what objections lie against it ? 

20* 



234 

Belsham's Ess. vol. I. Book I. Ess. 1. Dwight, vol. IV. Serm. 133 
spring's Disquis. p. 171. Edwards on the Will, Part I. Sec: 3, 4.—- 
Priestley on Lib. and Neces. Hartley on Man, vol. III. p. 458. Ed 
wards on Lib. and Neces. Ch. I — III. VII, VIII. Sykes's Princip* 
of Relig. Ch. III. Leibnitz, Tom. I. p. 117. Reid's Essays, vol. II, 
Ess. 4. Park St. Lectures, 10. Butler's Anal. Part I. Ch. 6. 

Melancthonis Op. Pars II. p. 344. Beattie, vol. I. Part II. Sec. 3. 
Butterworth on Mor. Gov. Part III. Sec. 4 — 6. Clarke's Remarks.— 
King's Orig. of Evil. Ch. V» Jackson's Defence of Hum. Lib. Gib's 
Contemplations, Part III. Toplady, vol. VI. Ch. I— VII. Fathers 
of the Eng. Church, vol. VIII. p. 537. Bramhall's Works, vol. III. 
Selec. on Atone, p. 1. Fuller's Gospel Worthy, p. 118. Warburton'* 
Div. Lega Part I. p. 46 — 55. 

5. What is meant by ability and inability, natural 
and moral ? 

Books the same as above. 

6. The existence of moral evil. What agency ha^ 
God respecting it ? Cautions to be observed in our 
treatment of this subject. 

Hopkins, vol. 1. Ch 4. West on Agency, Part II. Sec. 1—5.— 
King's Orig. of Evil. Edwards on the Will, Part IV. Sec. 10.— 
Eheinhard's Dogm. Loc. VI. Review of Williams and J. P. Smith. 
[Chr. Obser. vol. V.] Edwards's Diss, on Lib. and Neces. Ch, VIII 
Clarke's Inq. into the Cause and Orig. of Evil. [Boyl. Le&*vo}< III 
Priestley's Disquis. vol. IL Sec. 10. Emmons's Serm. Dwight, v: 
I, Serm. 15. Turrett. Tom. I. Loc. VI. Q,u. 7—8. Leibnitz. To: 
I. p. 117- Burton's Essays, Ess. 19, 20. 

Butterworth on Mor. Gov. Part II. Williams's Vind. Let. 5, 6.— 
Brettschneider's Handb. B. II. Kap. 4. Review of Emmons. We£ 
s&eider's Inst, p, 114. Reid's Ess, vol, IL Ess. IV. Ch. II. 



235 

ORIGINAL APOSTACY. 

1. Character and state of man before the fall. 

2. Scripture account of the fall Its credibility, 
Difficulties attending it. 

Taylor on Orig. Sin. Edwards on Orig. Sin. Dwight, vol. I. Semi. 
22—27. Gill, vol. I. Book III. Whitby on Orig. Sin. Chauncy's 
Diss. I, and II. Calvin's Inst. Book I. Ch. 15. also, book II. Ch. I. 
Emmons's Serm. vol. I. Serm. 12* Ridgeley, vol. I. Q,u. 15, 16. — 
Storr's Doct. Ch. Lib. III. Cap. II. Sec. I. Doederl. Tom. I. p. 563— 
574. Also, Tom. II. p. 6—30. Stapfer, Tom. I. Cap. III. Sect 9. 
Turrettin, Tom. I. Loc. VIII. and IX. Q,u. 6—11. Mastricht, Book 
III. Cap. 9. Book IV. Episcopius, Tom. II. Lib. IV. Cap. I, II. Sec, 
5. Rheinhard's Dogmat. Loc. V. Do. Moral, Band I. Smalley's 
Serm. 2. voL I. 

Bates's Works, Ch. I, II, III. Witsius on Cov. vol. I. Book I. Ch. 2. 
and 8. Hopkins, vol. I. Ch. VII, Sect. 2. Item, Ch. 8. Boston's 
Fourth State, p- 3. Witherspoon, vol. IV- Lect. 14. Zacharia's BibL 
Theol. vol. II. Sec. 101—132. Muntinghe, p. 255, and 607- Har- 
mony of Conf. p. 58. Williams's Vind. Appendix, Lett. 17. Scott's 
Reply to Toml. vol. I, p. 4. Toplady, vol. III. p. 348. Pearson on 
the Creed. Mordecai's Apol- vol. II. p. 614. Prideaux's Lectiones. 
XXI. Dickenson on the 5 points, p. 63. Bellamy, vol. I. Sec. V. — 
Wegscheider's Inst. Pars II. Cap. IV. Pars III. Cap. I Oeuvres de 
Claude, Tom. IV. p. 493. Schott's Opusc Tom. II. p. : 51. Bretts 
chneider's Entw. § 87—89. Do. Handb. Band I. p. 688—702. B. II. 
p. 17 — 89- Chandler's Doctrines, p. 1 — 28. Jablonski's Opusc. Tom> 
IV. p. 483. Leibnitz, Op. Tom. L 



CHARACTER AND STATE OF MAN SINCE 
THE FALL. 

1. Proper mode of reasoning, and the sources of evi- 
dence, Proof that all men are sinners. 



236 

Ridgeley, vol. I. Q,u. 23—26. Dwight, vol. 1. Serm. 29, 30. West 
on Mor. Ag. Appleton's Lectures, p. 89 — 112. Strong's Serm. 6. 
7. Smalley's Do. vol. I. Ser. 9, 10. Bellamy's Works, vol. I. Cal- 
vin's Inst. Book II. Scott's Essays, Ess. 5. Wilberforce's View, 
Oh. II. Park St. Lectures. Edwards, on Grig. Sin, Ch. 1. Do on 
the Will. Letters to Unitarians, Let. 5, 6. Reply to Dr. Ware. 
Chap. I — 7. Rheinhard's Moral, Band I. p. 367- Brettschneider's 
Entwik, § 90—94. Taylor on Grig. Sin. Whitby on Do. Letter* 
to Trin. and Calvinists. Let. 3. 

Burgess on Orig. Sin. Part I . Hopkins's System, vol. 1. Ch. 8. — 
Magee on Atone, p. 96. Zanchius de Relig. Chr. Chemnitii Enchir. 
p. 104. Storr's Doctr. Chr. Spring's Disq. Sec. II. Fuller's Essays. 
p. 46. Turrettin, vol. I. Williams's Vind. Robinson's Chr. Syst. 
vol. 1. Doddr. Lect. vol. II. Doederl. Tom. II. p. 33—99- Zacharia's 
Bibl. Theol. B. II. § 133—141. Emmons's Sermons. Muntinghe's 
Theol. p. 356. Also, p. 613. Reply to Wilberforce. Chauncy's Diss. 
Allen's Oracles of Reason, Ch. 5. Unitarian Tracts, p. 276. Chaun- 
cy's Sermons. Mordecar's Apology, vol. II. p. 632. Barklay's Apo- 
logy, p. 109. Keil and Tzchirner's Analekten, Band III. Stuck III. 
p. 163. 

2. Total depravity. Meaning and proof of the doc- 
trine. 

Bellamy, vol. I. p. 199. Calvin, Book II. Ch. 3- Wilberforce's 
View, Ch. II. Appleton's Lee p. 125—135. Smalley's Serm. vol. L 
Serm. 12, 13. Spring's Disq. p. 19. Fuller's Ess. p. 46. Dwight, 
vol. I. Serm. 31. Park St. Lee. I, II. Edwards on Sin. Emmons. 
Serm. 14. 

Magee on Atone, p. 96- Cooper's Serm. vol. I. Serm. 30. Doe- 
derl. Pars II. p. 32—70. Zanchii de Relig. Chr. Cap. VII. William's 
Vind. Lett. 3, 4. Robinson's Chr. Syst. vol. I. Ess. 13—18. Me- 
dulla Theol. Lib. I. Cap. 12. Chemnitii Enchir. p. 104. Burgess on 
Orig. Sin, Part III. Reply to Wilberforce. Burton's Essays, EsS 
27, Chalmer's Serm. XIII. (New Ser.) 

3. Objections against the doctrine of total depravity 
from its supposed inconsistency with the goodness of 
God ; with the moral agency of man : with the divine 



237 

commands and invitations ; and with certain texts 
which are supposed to indicate that unrenewed man has 
some degree of holiness. 

Appleton' s Loctures, p. 129. Doederl. Pars II. p. 190—193, West 
on Mor. Agency, Part II. Sec. 4. Fuller's Essays, p. 46. Edwards 
on Sin, Part IV- Letters to Unitarians, VI. Lett, to Trin. and 
Calvinists, Lett. III. Reply to Dr. Ware, Chap. IV— VII. J 

Reply to Wilberforce: Fellowes's Chr. Philos. p. 117—126. 

4. Evidence from scripture, and from the appearances 
of human nature, that moral depravity is natural, or 
innate. Objections considered. 

Bates's Works, p. 104, 105. Ridgeley, Q,u. 23—26. Dwight, vol. 

II. Serm. 32. Storr's Doct. Chr. Lib. III. Cap. II. Sec. 1. Edwards 
on Sin. Park St. Lee II. Dr. Ware's Letters. Reply to Dr. Ware, 
Chap. III. Taylor on Sin. Whitby on Do. Chap. IV, V. Apple- 
ton's Lee p. 114 — 116. 

Burgess on Orig. Sin, Part I. Prideaux's Lectiones, Lee. 21. 
Turrettin, Tom. I. Loc. IX. Doederl. Part II. p. 52—85. 

5. How does the Bible account for the universal sin- 
fulness of Adam's posterity? What was the connex- 
ion between him and them ? What is the meaning 
and the proof of the doctrine, that his sin is imputed to 
them? 

West on Mor. Ag. Part II. Sec. 5. Doddr. Lee Vol. II. p. 210. 
Edwards on Sin, Part IV. Ch. 3, 4. Emmons, Serm. 13. Appleton's 
Lee. p. 131. Dwight, vol. I. Serm. 32. Ridgeley, vol. I. Letters to 
Unitarians, Lett. VI. p. 44. Letters to Trin. and Calvinists Lett, 

III. Taylor on Orig. Sin. Whitby on Orig. Sin, Ch. I— III. 
Burgess on Orig. Sin, Part III. Chauncy's Diss. Diss. Ill, IV. 

Schott's Opusc. Tom. I. p. 313. Glass's Works, vol. III. p. 68. Fel- 
lowes's Chr. Phil. p. 126. 

#. Practical uses of the doctrine of depravity. 



238 

w^e U ch E vnr ,P ' 62 " Doederl - Tom - IL s 19a Re P'y t0 Dr 



ATONEMENT. 

Owen's Vind. Evangel. Ammon's Bibl. Theol. Band III. Th I 

?£T™ * TheoL Band n - § 143 - 151 - Band w- § n9-i 96 : 

Flatt s Mag. R ac0 vian Catech. Storr's Pauli Brief an die Hebraer 
Daubeny on Atone. Commenta, Theol. Tom. V. p. 337 Whit- 

Z pS y in°r eUVr r T d %? Ude ' T ° mIV ^ 12 - Wheide l 
WvZ ^^ Munscher ' s a«db. B. II. p. 30i-341. B. 
J V. p. 363-319. Munter's Handbuch, B. II. p. 305-348. 

1. The design and importance of the Divine law. 
and the necessity of sanctions. 

Appleton's Lectares. p. 79, 83. Calvin, Book II. Ch. 8. Witsius 
iviag. 9 St. p. 71. Selections on the Atone, p. 79. * 

2. How does it appear that an atonement was neces- 
sary in order to forgiveness ? Is repentance merely an 
adequate ground of pardon ? 

Calvin, Book II. Ch. I, and VI. Appleton's Lectures, p.136-144 
Magee on Atone. Dis. I. Note 4, 5. Selectionson the Atone p 390 
V ysje's Bamp. Lee Be,. VI. P ,ta.l on Sacrif. Part I. Dwjht' 

Itne Ch'll T J° d -° f DiV - V0L "• » 193 ' ^st on The 
Dkp I II' L "' , T ° m - IL L0C - XIV " ^ 10- Ton, IV. 

I Tn vW A» y ° n edemp - P " 24 ~ 56 - S y kes on Re <^P- Ch. 
I. Taylor and Hampton, p. 111. Mordecai's Apol. vol. II. p 643 
Unitarian Tracts, p. 395. Brettschneider's Handb. Th. II p 363 

2S3KS in staudlin ' s Beitra - 3 B - - * Chl - 

3 What representations do the Scriptures make of 
the design of Christ's death ? And what is implie^jn 



239 

i hose representations ? Particularly ; was Christ a 
substitute for sinners, or, were his sufferings vicarious ? 
What relation had his suffering to the penalty of the 
law, and to the justice of God ? Was human sin im- 
puted to Christ ? 

Bates, p. 80. 146—190. Wardlaw, Disc. VII. Witherspoon, Vol. 
IV. Lee. 16. Witsius, Vol. I. Book II. Ch. 8. Selections on Atone, 
p. 137—194. 251—265. Taylor and Hampton, p. 48. 108—233.— 
Magee on Atone. Disc. I, II. and p. 17, 143, 181, 219. West on 
Atone. Ch. Ill— VI, VII. Erskine's Remarks on Inter. Evid. p. 90 
— 97. Also, Sec. III. Nares's Remarks on the Imp. Version, p. 135 
— 173. Veysie's Bamp. Lee. Serm. IL V. Ridgeley, vol. II. p. 275 
—288. Portall on Sacrif. Part HI, IV. Balguy on Redemp. p. 12— 
16. Also p. 56—78. Outram de Sacrif. Lib. II. Cap. V, VI. Let- 
ters to Unitarians, Lett. IX. Murdock, Stuart and Dana's Serm. on 
Atone. Crisp's Sermons. Appleton's Lectures, p. 145 — 156. Ed- 
wards, vol. II. Period TL Part 2. Reply to Dr. Ware's Letters, Ch. 
X. Dwight. vol. II. Serm. 55, 56. Bellamy's Tr. Relig. Delin. p. 299. 
Fuller's Ess. p. 146—161. Calvin, Book II. Ch. XVI. p. 547, Ch. 
XVII. Scott's Essays. Es. 9. Stapfer, Tom. III. p. 543. Tom. IV. 
p. 435. Turrettin, Tom. IV. Disput. V, VI. Also, Tom. II. p. 463 
—484. Gill's Bod. of Div. vol. II. p. 202. Sykes on Redemp. Ch. V. 
and Observations, Ch. VI, and Observations. Mordecai's ApoL vol. 
II. p. 689, 782. Brettschneider's Handb. B. II. p. 254—259.265— 
—269. 278—286. Grotius de Satisfac. Letters to Trin. and Calvin- 
ists, Lett. V. Storr, uber den Zweck Der Todes Jesu. 

Hopkins, vol. 1. Part II. Ch. 3. Emmons. Serm. 13. Ludlam's 
Ess. IV. Griffin on Atone Part I. Ch. 2. Robinson's Syst. vol. I. 
Ess. 28, 29. Williams's Vind. Lett. X. Hey's Lee. vol. 11. p. 300— 
304. Fuller's Gospel. Worthy, p. 111. <?h. Spectator, vol. II. p. 
150, 151. Prideaux's Lectiones, Lee. 19. Unitarian Tracts, p. 468. 
Huntington's Thoughts on the Atone. 

4. The influence of Christ's perfect holiness, or, his 
obedience to the divine law ? 

Edward's Works, vol. VII. p. 59. Also ; vol. II. p. 194. Witsius on 



240 

the Gov. vol. I. Book II. Ch. 6. Dwight, vol. II. Serm. 56. Ridge- 
ley, vol. II. p. 281. Magee on Atone, p. 110. Outram de Sacrif. Lib. 
II. Cap. IV. West on Atone. Ch. V. Turrettin, Tom. IV. p. 274, 
Griffin on Atone. Part I. Ch. 3 } 4. Doederl. Tom. II. p. 401. Re- 
view of Griffin, Chr. Spec. vol. II. 

Selections on Atone, p. 179. Fuller's Essays, p. 134. Portall on 
Sacrif. p. 338. Mordecai's Apol. vol. II. p. 730, and 738. Chauncy's 
Univer. Salvation, p. 19. 

5. The design and influence of Christ's death, first, 
in respect to sinners generally, and secondly, in respect 
to those who were chosen to salvation. 

Dwight, vol. II. Serm. 56. Witsius, vol. I. Book II. Ch. 9. Bel- 
lamy's Works, vol. I. p. 390. Ridgeley, vol. II. p. 299. Selections on 
Atone, p. 171, 213, 278. Fuiler's Essays, p. 173. West on Atone. 
Ch. X. Doederl. Tom. II. p. 460. Burge on the Atone, p. 250.— 
Smalley's Serm. vol. II. Serm. 18. Chr. Spectator, vol. II. p. 152 — 
159. Strong's Benev. and Misery, p. 222. Whitby's Disc. II. Bar- 
row's Sermons on Universal Redemption 

Cole on the Sov. of God, p. 145. Owen's Salus Electorum. Grif- 
fin, Part II, III. Spaulding's Univer. destroys itself. Part IL Lett. I, 
II. Huntington's Calvinism Impr. 

6. Consistency of the Scripture doctrine of the Atone- 
ment with the free grace of God in the salvation of be- 
lievers, and with the justice of God in the destruction of 
the wicked. 

Dwight, vol. II. Serm. 57. Selections on Atone, p. 325. Veysie's 
Bampton Lee. Serm. VII. Magee on Atone, p. 116. West on Atone. 
CH. VIII. 

7. Practical importance of the doctrine of the Atone- 
ment. 

Wardlaw's Discourses, VIII. Magee on Atone, p. 265. Erskine's 
Remarks on Inter. Evid. p. 103, and 112. Dwight, vol. II. Serm. 57. 
Veysie's Bamp. Lee. Serm. VIIL Selections on Atone, p. 365. Re- 



241 

ply to Dr. Ware's Letters, Ch. X. Taylor and Hampton, p. 115 
Also, p. 276. 



REGENERATION. 

1. Nature of Regeneration. 

Dwight, vol. III. Serm. 74. Bellamy, vol. I. p. 226. Scott's Essays, 12. 
Backus on Regen. Disc. I. Doddr. Lee. vol. III. p. 420. Park St. Lee. 5 
Doddridge's Ten Sermons. Appleton's Lectures, XV. Strong's 
Serm. vol. I. Serm. 10. Smalley's Serm. vol. 1. Serm. 16. Doederl. 
Pars II. p. 507—519. 678—686. Calvin, Book III. Ch. 3. Wither- 
spoon's Works, vol. I. p. 85. Emmons's Serm, vol. II. Serm. 9. Wit- 
sius on the Cov. vol. I. Book IIL Ch. 6. Leighton's Lectures, Lee. 
15, 16. 

Owen on the Holy Spirit, p. 115. Burton' Essays, 29. Boston's 
Fourfold State, p. 153. Fuller's Ess. p. 77. Charnock's Works, vol. 

II. p. 29. Supplem. to Taylor on Orig. Sin, p. 150. Brettschneider's 
Handb. B. II. p. 503 — 543. Dr. Jarvis's Conven. Serm. John Scott's 
Inquiry. Wegscheider's Inst. Theol. p. 337. Noesselt de interno 
Test. Spir. Sane. Wright's Treatise on being born again. Maccovii 
Loc. Com. Cap. 70, 71. GUI's Bod. of Div. vol. II. p. 268. Scotfs 
Reply to Tomline, vol. I. p. 143. Mastricht, Lib. VI. Cap. 3. 

2. Necessity of Regeneration. 

Appleton's Lee. Lee. 16. Dwight, vol. III. Serm. 73. Scott's Es- 
says, 12. Boston's Fourfold State, p. 190. Backus on Regen. Disc. 

III, IV. Doddr. Lee. vol. III. p. 457. Charnock's Works, vol. II. p. 
1. Doddr. Ten Sermons on Reg. 

3. Author, or efficient cause of Regeneration. 

Edwards, vol. V. p. 413—504. Dwight, vol. III. Serm. 70. Ridge 
ley, vol. II. p. 23. Owen on the Holy Sp. p. 72. Park St. Lee. VI.— 
Whitby's Disc. III. Letters to Unitarians, Lett. X. Doddr. on 
Regen. 

Bates, p. 712. Gill's Bod. of Div. vol. II. p. 272. Robinson's Syst 
vol. II. Ess. 37—39. Fuller's Gosp. Worthy, p. 131. Doddr. Lee 
vol. III. p'. 525. Charnock, vol. II. p. 82, 

21 



242 

4. Means of Regeneration. 

Dwight, vol. IV. Serm. 135—139. Owen on the Holy Spirit, p. 
115. Park St. Lectures, VII, VIII. Charnock, vol. II. p. 154. Ap. 
pleton's Lectures, p. 216—228. Amnion's Bibl. Theol, B. III. Th. I 
Doddr. on Regen. 

5. Evidences of Regeneration. 

Edwards on the Affec. Bellamy's Tr. Relig. Delin. Dwight, vol, 
III. Serm. 88— 90. Backus on Regen. Disc. V, VI. Spring's Es- 
says. Appleton's Leap. 205 215. Edwards's Remarks on the Reviv. in 
N. Eng. Doddr. on Regen. 

6. Regeneration, a work of Sovereign Grace. 

Cole on the Sov. of God. Dickenson on the five Points, and Let 
ters. Letters to Unitarians, p. 57 — 62. Reply to Dr. Ware's Letters, 
p. 193 — 196. Letters to Trin. and Calvinists, p. 59. Zacharia's Bibl 
Theol. B. IV. S. 233—259. Doddr. on Regen. 



CHRISTIAN VIRTUE, OR HOLINESS. 

1. General nature of Holiness. 

Edwards's Nat. of Tr. Virtue. Do. Works, vol. II. p. 396. Hop 
kins on Holiness, Sec, I. Shafteshury's Char. vol. II. Treat. IV. vol 
III. p. 194—198. Brown's Ess. on the Char. Ess. II. Park St. Lee, 
tures, III. Butler's Diss, on the Nat. of Vir. (Vid. Analogy.) Paley's 
Mor. Phil. Ch. VIL Price on Mor. Ch. 7—9. Dwight, Serm. 78— 
80. Brown's Phil. Lee. 73—81. 

Doddr. Lee. vol. I. Part III. Prop. 48. Hutchinson's Mor. Phil 
vol. I. Ch. 3. Fiddes's Trea. on Moral. Staudlin's Lehrb. der Moral 
§143—54. De Wette's Sittenlehre, § 83—90. Strong's Serm. I!, 
vol. 2. Burgh's Dig. of Hum. Nat. 

2. Consistency between general benevolence and the 
private affections, 

Hopkins on Holiness, Sec. VI- Dwight, vol. III. Serm. 96—98 



243 

Edwards's Works, vol. II. p. 396. Smalley's Serm. vol. I. Serm. % 
Rheinhard's Moral, Band III. p. 122. Price on Mor. p. 218. 



PARTICULAR BRANCHES OFCHRISTIAN VIRTUE. 

ScougaPs Life of God in the soul. Bates's, Baxter's, and Howe's 
Practical Works. Doddr. Rise and Progress of Relig. Emmons's Ser- 
mons. Dwight's Theol. Hugh Knox's Aph. Essays. Spring's Es- 
says. Evans's Sermon's on the Ch. Temper. 

1. Repentance. Meaning of the word in the New 
Testament. Relation of godly sorrow to repentance.— 
Repentance immediately obligatory on all men. Should 
be inculcated by ministers. 

Calvin's Inst. Book III. Ch.3, also Ch. 6—10. Ridgeley, vol. II, p. 
84. Scott's Works, vol IV. p. I. Doederl. Tom. II* p. 624—635.— 
Strong's Serm. vol. I. Serm. 43. Smalley's Serm. vol. I. Serm. 17. — 
Dwight, vol. III. Serm. 77. Turrettin, Pars III. p. 619. 

Saurin's Serm. vol. III. Serm. 9. Walter's Disc. p. 369. Gill's 
Body of Div. vol. III. p. 25. Dickenson's Letters, p. 129. Robinson's 
Syst. vol. II. Ess. 40. Spring's Ess. 7. Ostervald's Theol. Sec. IV. 
Ch. 2. Zacharia's Bibl. Theol. B. IV. § 228—232. Fuller's Gospel 
Worthy, p. 86. 

2. Faith. Its general nature. What is faith in 
Christ ? Saving faith distinguished from other kinds 
of faith. — Practical influence of faith. 

Barrow's Sermon's, vol. II. Serm. 2 — 6. Halyburton on Faith.— 
Erskine on Faith. Calvin, Book III. Ch. 2. Bellamy, vol. I. p. 125, 
378, 426, 444. Ridgeley, vol. II. p. 59. Dwight, vol. Ill, Serm. 66.— 
Taylor's Disc, on Faith. Hopkins's Syst. vol. II. Ch. IV. Sec. 6.— 
Spring's Essays, 8. Witherspoon's.Serm. on the connexion between 
Justif. by Faith and Sanctis Scott's Works, vol. IV. p. 127. Do 
Essays, Edwards's Works, vol. IV. p. 419. Fuller's Gosp. Worthy - 



244 

Part IL Erskine's Dissertations, III. Chalmers, (New Series) 
Serm. 9. 

Review of Erskine, [Ch. Herald, vol. IL] Bates, Chap. VII. p. 597. 
Witsius, Book III. Chap. 7 Gill, vol. III. p. 48. Dickenson's Let- 
ters, p. 107. Robinson's Syst. vol. II. Ess. 41, 42, and 46—51. Os- 
tervald's Theol. Sec. 4. vol. IV. Ch. I. Zacharia's Bibl. Theol. Band 
IV. § 220—227. Tillotson's Serm. vol. II. p. 219—228. Amer, 
Preacher, vol. IV. Serm. 61—63. Doederl. Part II. p. 590—674. Tur- 
rettin, Pars II. p. 610. 

3. Submission, Humility r , meekness, and forgive- 
ness. Importance of this class of Christian virtues. 

Calvin, Book III. Ch. 12. Emmons, Serm. 18, 20. Gill's Bod. of 
Div. vol. III. p. 151—165. Edwards on the Affections, (Works, vol. 
IV.) Evans on the Chr. Temper. Scougai's L.ife of God in the soulj 
p. 96. Bates, p. 165. Smalley's Serm. vol. TI. Serm. 14, 15. Hop- 
kins on Holiness. Do. Dialogues. Spring's Ess. 9, 12. Strong's 
Serm. vol. I. Serm. 18. 

4. Prayer. I, Its general nature and grounds. Ob- 
ligatory on all men. In what manner are the unregen- 
erate to be addressed on the subject ?— 2. The efficacy 
of prayer. 

Dwight, vol. V. Serm. 140—143. Calvin, Book III. Ch. 20. Ridge- 
ley, vol. II. p. 455. Scott's Ess. 23. Edwards, vol. III. Witherspoon, 
vol. II. p. 7. Emmons, Serm. 20. Howe's Works, vol. II. p. 449. — 
Goodwin's Select Cases, II. Oeuvres de Fenelon, Tom. III. Spring's 
Essays, Ess. 11. Mordecai's Apol. p. 665. Price's Disser. III. 

5. Growing conformity with the divine law, or 
progressive sanctifcation the duty of all Christians. 
Means of promoting it. < 

Newton's Works, vol. I. p. 171. Goodwin's Treat, on Growth in 
Grace. Owen on Mortif.of Sin. Do. on Spir. Mindedness. Fraser 
on Sanctif. Calvin, Book lit Ch, 6-9. Dwight, vol III. Serm. 83, 



245 

66. Witsius, vol. II. Book III. Ch. 12. Ridgeley, vol. II. p. 76—91, 
Gill, vol. II. p. 302. Owen on the Holy Spir. Book IV. 

Ostervald's Theol. Part II. Sec. IV. Ch 6. Marshall on Sanctif.— 
Turrettin, Tom. II. Loc. XVII. Gluaes. 1, 2. Robinson's Syst. vol- 
II. Ess. 51—57. Hopkins, vol. II. p. 193. Mastricht, Lib. VI. Cap 
8. Doederl. Tom. II. § 327 335. p. 687. Wegscheider's Inst, p 
340. 



JUSTIFICATION. 

1. Its general nature and grounds. 

Owen on Justif. p. 479. Calvin's Inst. Book III. Ch. XI. Ridge 
ley, vol. II. Stapfer, vol. I. p. 359. Guyse's Pref. to Romans and 
Notes. Witherspoon, vol. IV. Gill, vol. II. p. 228. Storr's Doct 
Chr. § 117. Turrettin, Tom. II. Loc. XVI. Dwight, vol. II. Serm< 
64. Hopkins, vol. II. p. 53. Koppii Nov. Test. Tom, IX. Gerhard. 
Tom. VII. Scott's Essays, 12. Taylor's Key to Romans. Edward* 
on Justif. (Works, vol. VIL) Smalley's Serm. vol. II. Serm. 9. 

Noesselti Opusc. Selections on^ Atone, p. 105. Rawlin on Justif, 
Brown Vind. p. 1 — 273' Witsius, vol. I. Cooper's Serm. vol. IL 
Serm. 28,29. Zanchius de Relig. Chr. Cap. 19. Scott's Rep. to 
Tomline, vol. I. p. 210. Brown's body of Div. Book V. Ch. 2. Os 
ten-aid's Theol. Sec. IV. Ch: 5. Zacharia's BibL TheoL B. IV. § 260 
265. F. G. Marsh's Serm. Ludlam's Ess. 5. Mastricht, Lib. VI 
Cap. 6. Macknighton Epis. vol. III. Ess. VI. Oeuvres de Claude. 
Tom. XIV. p. 75. Philips's Doc: of Justif. "Whittaker's Two Serav 
Gaoler's Journal fur aus Theol. Lit. Band IV. p. 229. Brettschnei- 
der's Entw. § 108. Doederlein, Part II. p. 383—408. 

2. Peculiar office of faith in justification. 

Barrow's Works, vol. II. p. 41. Dwight, vol. II. Serm. 65—67, 
Witsius, vol. I. Book III. Ch. 8. Calvin, Book III. Ch. 11. Ridge- 
ley, vol. II. p. 48. Fuller's Gosp. Worthy, p. 139. Dickenson on the 
five Points, p. 151. Stapferi Theol. Tom. IV. p. 549. Turrettin, 
Tom. II. Loc. XVI. Gluaes. 7. Edwards, vol VIL 

Morus's Epit. Theol. Chr. Pars V. Cap. I. Tillotson, vol. 11. p 
346> Rawlin on Jus. hv Faith. Brown's Vind. p. 280, Noessel£ 

21* 



246 

Opusci Fasc. I. p. 69. Dickenson's Letters, p. 210. Owen on Justif. 
p. 110. Robinson's Syst. vol. II. Ess. 43—45. E. G. Marsh's Sena.. 
p. 112. 

3. Consistency of St. Paul and St. James in relation 
to this subject. 

Bulli Op. Harmonic. Apost. Dwight, vol. II. Serin. 68. Erskine 
on Faith, (Appendix.) Doederlein, vol. II. Part II. § 328,329. Er~ 
nesti Doct. Discrep. Note. Koppii Nov. Tes. Tom. IX. Fasc. I. Ex 
cur. 2. 

Owen on Justif. p. 676. Turrettin, Tom. IV. p. 284. Robinson's 
Syst. vol. II. Ess. 45. Tillotson, vol. II. p. 363, 481—484. Brown's 
Yind. (Appendix.) Chap. IV— VIII. 

4. Moral tendency of the doctrine ; with answers to ob- 
jections. 

Dwight, vol. II. Serm. 69. Owen on Justif. p. 484. Smalley's 
Serm. vol. II. Serm. 9. Calvin, Book III. Ch 16. Cooper's Serm 
vol. II. Serm. 29. Witherspoon, on the connexion between Justif. by 
faith and Sane. 

Witsius, vol. I. Book III. Ch. 8. Robinson's Syst. vol. II. Ess. 44. 
45. Tuckney's Praelec. Theol. Pars I. p. 26—302. 



PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS. 

Dickenson on the five Points, p. 182. Whitby on the five Points, 
Dis. V. Wesley's Serm. vol. I. Hopkins, vol. II. Zanchii Miscel. do 
Persever. Sanctorum. Witsius, vol II. Book III. Ch. 13. Ridgeley. 
vol II. p. 100. Park St. Lee. IX. Stapfer, Tom. IV. p. 400. Smal 
ley's Serm. vol. I. Serm. 19, 20. 

Cole on the Sov. of God, p. 376—233. Toplady, vol. V. Doddr. Lee. 
Gill, vol. II. p. 313. Newton's Works, vol. I. p. 162. Scott's Works, 
vol. II. p. 521. Turrettin, Pars II. Loc XV. Q,u. 16. DoederL vol- 
II. p. 651. Prideaux's Lectiones, Lee. VI. flornbeck's Comport 
Tom. II. Lib. I. Cap. 4. Chandler's Doctrines, p. 347, 

1 . Statement and proof of the doctrine 



247 

2. Objections. First, from the exhortations to per 
severance, and the warnings against apostacy, which 
are found in Scripture ; implying the possibility and 
danger of appostacy. Second ; from instances of the 
actual apostacy of Christians. Third /from the ten- 
dency of the doctrine to promote negligence and sloth. 

3. The cautions necessary to be observed in preach 
ing and defending the doctrine. 



FUTURE STATE. 

1. Intermediate state. Do men exist intelligent 
conscious beings between death and the resurrection ? 

Objections to the intermediate state, from the appear- 
ances of human nature in old age and at death, which 
are thought to imply that intelligence is extinguished 
with animal life : and from the texts of Scripture which 
represent death to be a state of inaction and rest. 

Dwight, vol. V. Serm, 164. Campbell's Four Gosp. vol. IV. Notes 
on- Matt. XXII. 23, 32. Ridgeley, vol. II. GLu. 86. Gerhard, Tom. 
XVIII. p. 1—32, Panoplist, vol. XL p. 393—402. Belsham's Essays, 
vol. I. Ess. 11,12. Priestly on Matter and Spirit, vol. I. Sec 21.— 
Hopkins, vol. II. p. 213. Watt ; s Works, vol. V. p. 448. Beattie'* 
Work's, vol. VIII. p. 29. Smalley's Serm. vol. I. Serm. 23. Butler'* 
Analogy. Ch. I. 

Warburtoivs Div. Leg. Part II. p. 199, 228. Doddr. Lee. vol. II. p. 
155. Doederl. Tom. II. 163—173. Brettschneider's Handb. B. II. p. 
:J38— 378. Amnion's Bibl. Theol. Book III. Th. 2. Brown's Philos?, 
Lect. 96—98. J. A. Turrettin, Tom. I. p. 195. Michaelis's Com- 
menta. Tom. I. No. 4. Gabler's Journal, Band IV. 

9; Resurrection. What is implied in the Scripture 



248 

account of it ? What connexion has the general resur 
rection with the resurrection of Christ f See I. Cor 

XV. 

Dwight, vol. V. Serm. 164. Ridgeley, vol. II. GLu. 87. Gill, vol 
II. p. 374. Doederl. Tom. II. p. 472—507. Gerhard, Tom. XVIII- 
p. 295—375. Tom. XIX. p. 1—91. Chalmer's Serm. (Ed. 1824.) 
Serm. 7. Calvin's Inst. vol. II. Ch. 25. Appleton's Lee. p. 270—282 

Com. Theol. Tom. II. p. 233—327. Also, Tom. I. p. 268. Tillot 
son's Serm. vol. X. Serm. 193, 194. Brettschneider's Handb. B. II. p 
378—409. Ostervald's Theol. Lee. V. Ch. 3. Doddr. Lee. vol. II. p 
443. Boston's Fourfold State, p. 310. 

3. Final judgment. Its general design in relation 
to God, — to man — and the universe. — Transaction of 
the judgment day. What views are we to entertain a? 
to the length of time to be employed ? Will all the 
sins of the righteous 5 as well as the wicked be brought 
to light? 

Dwight, vol. V. Serm. 166. Watt's World to Come. Calvin, Book 
ill. Ch. 25. Barrow's Works, vol. II. p. 343. Ridgeley, vol. II. p 
198. Gill, vol. II. Bates, p. 396. 457. Turretin, Tom. III. Loc 
XXX. Glu. 6. Irving' s Orations. 

Doddr. Lee. vol. II. p. 441. Doederl. Tom. II. BrettschneiderV 
Handb. B. II. p. 409—439. Williams's Vindication. Ostervald'^ 
Theol. p. 382. Brooks's Golden Key, p. 355. Boston's Fourfold 
State, p. 332. Flatt's Magazine. Foster's Nat. Relig. Simpson's Ess. 
on the Lang, of Scrip. 

4. Blessedness of the Righteous. In what will it 
consist ? Will their intelligence and their enjoyment be 
progressive ? 

Ridgeley, vol. II. Qu. 90. Storr's Opusc. Tom. II . p. 75. Gill, vol 
II. p. 495, Dwight, vol. V- Serm. 169— 17L Bates, p. 477. With 



249 

erspoon, vol. II. p. 219. Watt's World to Come. Baxter's Saint's 
Rest. Hewe's Blessedness of the Righteous. 

Doederl. Tom. II. p. 533—551. Boston's Fourfold State, p, 363 
Brettschneider's Handb. B. II. p. 447-4G9. 



FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 

Appleton's Lectures, Lee. 21—23. Dwight. vol. V. Serm. 167, 168. 
Ridgeley, vol. II. Q,u. 89. Letters to Vidler. Irving's Orations.— 
Edwards against Ch?;iney, Ch. 7 — 14. Strong's Benev. and Misery. 
Purves's Humble Attempt, p. 174—245. Doederl. Tom. II. p. 173— 
203. Bates, p. 330—455, 535. Flatt's Mag. Zweit. St. p. 23— 211. 
Chauncy's Universal Salvation. Watt's vol. V. p. 637—659. Ed- 
wards, vol. VII. p. 375. 

Stuart on al&v and aluvioS in Spirit of the Pilgrims, vol. 2. No. 8, 
Burge on the Atone. (Appendix-) Gill, vol. II. p. 169. 481. Fuller'. 
Gospel, its own Witness, p. 215. Doddr. Lectures, vol. II. p. 464 — 
482. Williams's Vind. Letter 7. Spaulding's Univer. destroys itself. 
Hammond's Works, vol. [. p. 709. Burgess on Orig. Sin, Part, IV.' 
Ch. 5. Turrettin, Tom. III. Loc. XXX. Q,u. 7. Baxter's Saint's 
Rest. Brook's Golden Key, p. 161. Boston's Fourf. State, p. 399.— 
Foster's Nat. Relig. Ch. 9. Goodwin on the punish, of Sin. Gabler's 
Journal, Band IV. p. 142. Simpson's Essays, Part I. Brettschneider's 
Handb. B. II. p. 469—490. 

1. In what will the misery of the wicked consist ? 
how are we to understand the forcible and terrific lan- 
guage of Scripture on this subject ? How should it be 
treated by ministers ? 

2. Duration of future punishment. What does 
reason teach ? What is the testimony of God's word ? 
To what causes of error are we specially exposed ? 

3. Reasoning of Universalists considered, 



250 

POSITIVE INSTITUTIONS. 

1. tSabbath. In what sense is the fourth command 
obligatory on Christians ? 

Dwight, vol. IV. Serm. 105. Ridgeley, vol. II. Qu. 115. Edwards 
vol. VIII. Serm. 26. Calvin, Book II. Ch. 8. Horsleys Serm. vol. II. 
Serm. 21—23. Doddr. Lee. vol. II. p. 356. Prop. 151. Turrettin. 
Pars II. Loc. XI. GLu. 13, 14. Panoplist, vol. X. p. 241, 246, 345, 355. . 
Strong's Serm. 20, 21. Chalmers, (Ed. 1824.) Serm 10. 

Robinson's syst. vol III. Ess. 65, 66. Durham's Expos, p. 200. 
Hospinian de Fest. Dieb. Cap. II— IV. Mastricht, p. 1240. Glass's 
Works, vol. II. p. 381. 

2. Reasons for changing the day. — Proper mode of 
observing the Christian Sabbath. 

Dwight, vol. IV. Serm. 106, 108. Ridgeley, vol. II. Gtu. 117—121 
Edwards, vol. VIII. Serm. 26. Panoplist, vol. X. p. 198, 203, 353. 
354, 433, 440, 481, 485, vol. XI. p. 6, 11, 107, 111, 201, 206, 448, 454 



CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Hooker's Eccl. Polity. Dwight, vol. V. Ridgeley, vol. I. Dobbi\ 
Lect. vol. II. Hey's Lect. vol. IV. p. 70, 110. Gerhard, Tom. XI, 
XII. Rheinhard's Dogmat. Loc. XL Doederl. Pars II. p. 820—839- 

1. General view of the Christian Church, and the 
qualifications of members. 

Walts on Communion, GLu. IV* Dwight, vol. V. Serm. 149 
Edwards, vol. I. 

Aytown's Const, of the Church, Chap. II. Sec. 3. Erskine's 
Disser. Diss. II. Rutherford's Right of Presbyt. Ch. I, IV. Dau 
beny's Guide, Ciss. II. Owen's Inq. Ch. I. 

2. Mode of admission. Propriety and importance 
of a creed, 



251 

Waits on Com. Dunlop's Preface to Assemb. Catech. Panoplist. 
vol. II. p. 313—318, and 359—365. Duncan on Creeds and Confes- 
bisons. Miller's Lect. on Creeds. 

Wheatly on the Creeds, p. 51. Rutherford's Right, p. 130* Glass's 
Works, vol. II. p. 58. 

3. Government and discipline of a particular church 
in regard to its own members. 

Gill, vol. III. p. 274. Potter's Works, vol. II. Ch. I. Hopkin's ; 
vol. II. p. 407. Watts on Comm. 

Wise's Vind. Aytown's Con. of the Church, Ch. II. Sec. I. Oster^ 
vald's Theol. Sec. V. Ch. 3. Glass's Works, vol. I. p. 19L 

4. Ecclesiastical government in the large sense. On 
what principles is its form to be determined ? 

5. Episcopacy, Presbyterianism, and Congregation 
alism. Advantages and disadvantages of each. 

King on the Prim. Ch. Chr. Magazine. Campbell's Lect. on Ch. 
History. Bowden's Letters. Calvin's Inst. Book IV. Owen's In^ 
quiry, Rutherford's Right of Presbyteries, Ch. X. Also, Act. 15. p. 
355, Calamy's Dioces. Episc. Skinners Truth and order. Chilling 
worth's Apos. Inst, of Episc. Peirce's Vind. of Dissenters. Potter's 
Works, voL II. Ch. 4. Chauncy's View of Episc. Miller's Letters on 
the Const, and order of the Chr. Min. Hobart's Apology. Panoplist, 
vol. XI. p. 350—373, 507—518, 537—545. 

Lindsey's Vindication of the Church of Eng. Morinus de Sac Ord, 
Essays on Episc. Daubeny's Guide to the Ch. Jameson's Sum of 
Episc. Contr. Wise's Vindication. Aytown's Const, of the Chr, 
Chh. Ch. Ill, IV. Doddr. Lect. vol. II. p. 342. Platforms of Presby t 
and Cong. Churches. Edwards on Episcopacy. Osgood's Dudleyan 
Lecture. . * 

6. Officers of the church, particularly pastors and 
deacons. Mode of inducting them into office. Then 

- respective duties. 

Pwight, vol. V. Serm. 150— 155. Gill, voL III. Book IT- Miller's 



252 

Letters. Doddr. Lee: vol. II. p. 339. Hopkins, vol. II. Smith's Lee, 
on the Sac. Office. 

Owen's Inquiry. Bingham's Antiq. vol. I. Skinner's Truth and 
Order. Mastricht, Lib. VII. Cap. 2. Morinus de Sac. Eccl. Ordin, 
Rutherford's Right. Platforms. Wigglesworth's Two Disc, 



INFANT BAPTISM. 

SUBJECT GENERALLY. 
Works of Peter Edwards, Pond and Judson, Jerram, Clarke, Reid, 
Clinton, Worcesterand Baldwin, Wall and Gale, West, Strong. 
Woods's Lectures on Inf.Bapt. and Letters of David and John in 
reply. 

1. Evidence from the natural relation between pa- 
rents and children ; from the constitution of the church 
under the former dispensation ; from the New Testa- 
ment ; and from Ecclesiastical History. 

Dwight, voLV. Serm. 158. Ridgeley, vol. II. Q.U. 166. Baldwin on 
Bap. Appendix, Sec III. Gill, vol. III. Book 3. Bap. of Infants Rea- 
sonable, (Vid. Waterland's Farther Vind. Also, Tracts, No. 9.) Introd. 
and Arg. 1—5. Erskine's Serm. vol. II. Calvin Book IV. Ch: 16. 
Doederl. Tom. II. p. 772—780. Turrettin, Tom. III. Loc. XIX. GLu- 
20. Cave's Prim- Chris. Part I. Ch. 5.' Bingham's Antiq. vol. IV. 
Gerhard, Tom. IX. p. 67—318. 

Janeway's Letters, I — IX. Wegscheider's Inst. p. 356. Brettsch- 
neider's Handb. B. II. p. 656 — 691. Addington's Reasons, Part. II. 
Ch. 4. Buckminster's Disc, on Bap. Hey's Lectures, vol. IV. p. 275. 
Dow's Catech. Austin's Reply to Merill. Hopkins, vol. II. Witsius, 
Book IV. Ch. 16. Robinson's Syst. vol. II. Ess. 88, 89. Doddr. Lee. 
vol. II. Vossii Op. Tom. VI. p. 254. 

2. Arguments of Antipedo-baptists,— from the re- 
quisition of faith, — from the want of a positive com- 
mand.— and from the incapacity of infants. 



253 

Dwight, vol V. Semi. 157. Ridgeley, vol. II. CLu. 166. Gill, vol, 
III. p. 293. Clinton on Bap. Sec. 15. P. Edwards, Chap, I. Jane- 
way's Lett. 10, 11. Addington's Reasons, Part. II. Ch. 3. 

3. Import of infant baptism. Its utility. Standing 

of baptized children. Duty of parents and the church 

in relation to them. 

Dwight, vol. V. Serm. 156. Hammond's Works, vol. I. p. 607. vol, 
II. "p. 101. Bap. of Inf. Reasonable, p. 50. Austin's View of Chh. 
Ch. 12. P, Edwards, p. 184. Tenney's Sum. View, Ser. 3. BrabcL 
on Bap. 



MODE OF BAPTISM. 

What conclusion must we adopt as to the proper 
mode of baptism, from the signification of the original 
word ; from the circumstances of baptism recorded in 
the New Testament : from the passages which contain 
allusions to baptism ; from the import of the rite ; from 
respect to custom, convenience or decorum ; and from 
ecclesiastical history. 

Ridgeley, vol II. p. 416. Gill, vol. III. p. 307. Clarke's Defence. 
Ch. VI. Addington's Reasons, Part I. Janeway's Lett. 12. (Vid. 
Waterland's Farther Vind. and Tracts, No. 9.) Dwight, vol. V. Serm, 
159. Witsius, vol. II. Book IV. Ch. 16. Tillotson's Serm. vol, I. ?, 
51-2. Wood's 8th Lee. 



LORD'S SUPPER. 

1. Ife desigHj utility, and perpetuity. 
22 



254 

2. Frequency, and manner of the observance. 

Calvini Op. Tom. VIII. Pars. I. Dwight, vol. V. Serm. 160. Cal- 
vin's Inst. Book III. Ch. 17. Ridgeley, vol, II. GLu. 168—175. Fa~ 
thers of the Eng. Ch. vol. VI. p. 474. Tillotson's Serm. vol. II. Serm. 
25. Grove on the Lord's Supper. Doolittle on Do. Watts on Com. 
Witsius, Book IV. Ch. 17. Gill, vol. III. p. 315. Doederl. P. II. p? 
781. 814. Flatt's Mag. 11. St. p. 1. 

Robison's Syst. vol. III. Ess. 90, 91. Turrettin, Tom. III. L©e 
XIX. Gtu. 21, 22. Hammond's Works, vol. I. Hawies's Spir. Comp; 
Gale's Reflec. Vosii Op Tom. VI. p. 426. Cudw. Intel. Syst. vol. II. 
(Appendix.) Oeuvres de Claude, Tom. II. Brettschn. Handb. B. 
II. p. 697— 770. Glass's Works, vol. V. Lord's Supper. Belion. 

3. Catholic Communion. 

Hall on Com. Mason on Do, Watts on Do. Review of Hall and 
Mason -in Ch. Spec. Gale's Reflec. p. 76—74. Baldwin on Bap 
Part I. Sec. I. Ill, Foster's Nat. Relig. vol, I. p. 331. Woods's 8th 
Lecture 



!^ 



yl 



